Cruel Reflections
by Alexandra-bookaholic
Summary: Alec Lightwood can't wait to get away, can't wait to leave for college and start living a new life free from his parent's opinions and rules. Magnus Bane is seemingly living the dream. He is charming, and could have anyone his heart desires, the problem is, he can't seem to read his heart. What happens when the two of them meet via an application and start sharing their secrets? AH
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hey guys. So I started writing this new Malec fic. It's a bit different from the one I wrote before, but I think if you'll give it a chance you'll have as much fun reading it as I am having while writing it. I have three chapters ready so far and look forward to posting them. I hope you enjoy.**

Cruel Reflections

All characters belong to Cassandra Clare; we just like to play with them.

Chapter 1

Alexander Lightwood was having a disaster of a day. After having to explain to a rather feisty senior citizen what the difference between Oreo's and regular chocolate chip cookies was, he was denied his law regulated coffee break due to a busy day. On top of all that, he felt like he was coming up with a cold.

"Excuse me?" A rather irritated voice jolted him out of his thoughts. He looked over his shoulder and was faced with a lady dressed in an expensive looking suit, holding a cell phone to her ear.

"Yes," Alec said in a polite tone that could only belong to the employee of the month of St. Clare's one and only Walmart. The woman lifted her hand up to wave Alec away. "Hold on a second Jackie, I'll be right back."

Alec waited patiently as the woman put her cell phone away and finally looked at him. "I need to find some light bulbs for my Christmas lights, the energy saving ones. Where can I find them?"

'Well, not here, this is the Candy Aisle,' Alec wanted to say, but he bit his tongue and worked up a tight smile and gave the woman directions to the correct aisle. "Its aisle twenty-two, right down this way," Alec said and pointed to the left. The woman nodded and left without so much as a thank you. Alec watched her swish down the aisle in her expensive suit and thought that she couldn't possibly be from around here.

Alexander Lightwood was in charge of the sweets section, which he loved and hated at the same time. If he had to define his relationship with his job it would be 'it's complicated'. There were always things to do, with hyperactive kids coming to fulfill their sugar addictions and people on diets trying to figure out what to buy as Christmas treats, he always had rearranging to do, and let's not forget about helping people with terribly urgent candy problems. Seriously though, marmalade or toffee, that was the question of the hour. Alec really didn't mind the rearranging and the helping people part; it was the arrogant, ignorant or just plain rude people that got to him. They really knew how to push all his buttons, buttons that really should have been left alone. He rolled his eyes as he remembered some of the temper tantrums he'd seen. They always seemed to get worse towards Christmas. It was as if when the season made people jolly, it also made them busy and thoughtless making them run around like headless chickens. Alec really didn't understand all the hype around Christmas. He personally thought that starting to sell Christmas stuff in October was ridiculous, but it was company protocol. Now, in the beginning of December was when things were at their worst. It was really getting out of hand. Alec didn't even have time for a cup of coffee.

As he left work that night, finishing up a night shift ending at ten O'clock, he found himself wrapping his scarf tightly around his neck, covering his face with it. The wind had picked up and the snow had started to pile into graceful looking white piles, lining out the streets. He shivered as another gust of wind blew right through his coat and struck his bones. Little snowflakes were sticking to his hair and melting away, wetting his face. If there was one thing Alec did like about Christmas, it was definitely the way St. Clare looked like. String of Christmas lights lined every building, decorations (tacky or not) took over all the front lawns and everything just looked so much brighter this time of year. Alec quickly took out his car keys and opened the door to his sleek black Mercedes. His father was a wealthy man and for all Robert's faults he did truly have connections when it came to buying expensive things, including cars.

It wasn't that Alec was picky about his car, he only really cared that it was running well and that it had air-conditioning, but it was nice to have some extra comforts like say…a cup holder with two places on it. Yeah that was the life.

As soon as he was in his car Alec switched on the heat and turned the keys in the ignition. His car purred delightfully and made no protest as Alec started making his way home. It took him about twenty minutes to make his way up to the suburbs where he lived, the Christmas decorations got more pompous and ridiculous the closer Alec got to his home street. He knew the way as well as he did his own pockets (which he actually didn't have) so he drove home like a very sleepy zombie, watching the tiny white snowflakes crash into his windshield. He yawned as he parked in their freshly shoveled drive way. The warmth of the car was so compelling that Alec waited a while before he killed the engine. He really didn't want to step out into the cold night air. Maybe he could sleep in the car? Nope, that wouldn't work, his mother would come drag him into the house and demand an explanation. Alec sighed and rubbed his hands together and opened the car door, bravely taking in the freezing atmosphere. He let out a breath and watched it turn into vapor as he walked up the front porch steps of his house. The concrete under his feet was slippery which forced an image of his baby sister, Isabelle, slipping in her heels and falling right down the stairs into his mind, she was a real klutz sometimes. He shook his head and banished the horrible thought out of his head.

The front door was open. His mother always waited up for him when he worked late. The perks of not working were that she could actually stay up late and not have to drag her ass out of bed at six thirty the next morning. Alec made sure to lock the door after he entered the house. He took off his shoes and wiped the snow off them placing them neatly in the shoe rack. He made his way to the kitchen; he could see light streaming through the French doors and could faintly smell fresh coffee. He smiled inwardly, because honestly his face was too frozen for a smile to appear on it.

"Hello sweetie," Maryse Lightwood chimed at him. She was wearing a white knee length nightgown (always modest and proper), her outfit completed with bunny slippers that Isabelle had bought for her last Christmas. She was holding to a cup of steaming hot coffee, sitting on one of the stools that surrounded the island in the middle of the kitchen.

"Hi mom," Alec said, not taking his eyes of the coffee pot which unfortunately seemed to be empty.

"How was work?" She asked and cocked her head to the side a bit. "Looks like it's been a cold day."

"Work was okay, and yeah it's been kind of cold," Alec answered sitting down across the island, facing her. He always downplayed things with his mother; things were best kept simple with her.

She smiled at him and took a sip of her coffee. Alec swallowed, feeling the ache of caffeine deprivation hit him and it hit him hard. "No more coffee?"

"You shouldn't drink coffee this late," Maryse stated, still a kind smile plastered on her oval face. She crinkled her pointy nose. "You won't be able to sleep at all."

"You're drinking it," Alec pointed out and instantly regretted it. No talking back was a rule he'd learned at a very young age, but never seemed to comply to…Him and his stupid mouth. Luckily Maryse didn't seem to take his comment as talk back, but as more of an observation.

"Yes, but I'm not the one who has to go to school and work tomorrow," She simply stated and finished her coffee in one gulp. They sat in silence for a while, Alec just waiting to be dismissed. Unfortunately his mother seemed to be in a chatty mood. No doubt it was due to the caffeine rushing through her veins…Sweet, sweet caffeine.

"Don't you think the decorations outside are just wonderful?" Maryse asked, her face alight with excitement. He had always shared his mother's enthusiasm towards Christmas decorations, but tonight he had been too tired to notice the array or lights and plastic reindeer outside.

"Huh?" He replied and looked over his shoulder to see out the kitchen window. "They're nice." Alec nodded and pressed his head down.

"That's all I get for arranging stuff outside in the freezing weather?" Maryse asked, her pale blue eyes burning a hole into Alec's forehead.

"They're lovely, mom, I think you've outdone yourself," Alec replied and hoped for her to be satisfied with the answer. He wanted to go take a nice hot shower and then crawl under the covers. Talking about Christmas decorations was not on his current 'to do' list.

"Thank you darling," Maryse said and yawned. "Well… I think I'll go join your father; I need a good night's sleep. We have the bake sale at the church tomorrow. I've got to be ready and in good spirits."

"Oh yeah, the bake sale…What did you make?" Alec asked, peering towards the fridge.

"I made an apple cake with cinnamon frosting." Maryse narrowed her eyes as she noticed Alec's dreamy look. "And none of it is for you. It's to raise money at the bake sale."

Alec frowned but accepted his fate; he would have no coffee and cake tonight. "Well, I guess we should both go to bed then," he said and tried out a smile. Thankfully his face had defrosted enough for the corners of his mouth to lift up.

"I think that's a good idea. Sweet dreams honey," Maryse said, placing a kiss on Alec's forehead. He blushed caused by the awkwardness of his mother babying him, but kissed her cheek back anyway. "Good night mom."

He watched as Maryse hopped up the stairs in her bunny slippers and disappeared into the second door on the left. He let out an exhausted breath and let his head drop back. True to his words, he soon followed his mother upstairs and slipped into his room. He took his cell phone out of his jean's pocket and placed it on his glass desk. No calls. He frowned and then realized that he shouldn't be disappointed because he was expecting no calls. Although…it was also nice to know that someone missed you or somehow needed you.

Alec longingly looked at his double bed; with all its fluffy pillows and comfy blankets it offered immediate comfort. He really was tired and if he sat down on his bed he would probably pass out like a drunken college student. He sighed deeply, holding back a yawn and started taking off his brown T-shirt that had faded into almost beige…ish. He threw it on the floor and did the same with his faded out jeans. Walking into his small in- suite washroom, completed with a bathtub/shower system in the ugliest shade of dark blue, he proceeded to discard the remains of his clothing as well. He shivered a bit before he turned on the steaming hot shower and stepped onto the cool surface of the well-used bath tub. He closed the shower curtain after him and stepped under the nearly boiling water. The nice thing about water was that it covered and consumed you completely. You could lose yourself in a fifteen minute shower as easily as you could get lost in downtown New York. Alec felt his mind wander off without permission once again. He washed his hair and went on with his routine, not particularly paying attention to what he was doing. His head was in the clouds, miles away from his tiny washroom in the suburbs of St. Clare. He thought about things like college and how different life would be without living under the same roof as his family. How he could maybe…discover himself a bit more. Try to understand his thoughts instead of just filing them into nooks in his brain labeled as 'classified information'. An image that frequently liked to visit his mind was him sitting down to eat with someone he couldn't quite recognize, they'd pull out a chair for him and he'd sit down and start to eat…without saying grace. Another was him putting up Christmas lights in his own apartment.

Alec shifted out of his thoughts as the droplets of water flowing down his body started to turn cold. He groaned inwardly, it figures Izzy would have used up all the warm water. He rolled his eyes and shut the water off. Well, one could always dream, but it didn't do any good to rumble around in your head for too long…or at least that's what his mother always liked to say. He wrapped a nice cotton towel around himself and used another to dry his pitch black hair. He quickly took a look at the steamy mirror and frowned. Geez, he looked rough. He had black circles around his eyes and his lips were chapped beyond any reasonable measure. He searched the washroom cabinet for some chap stick but ended up finding squat so he quickly pulled on a pair of pajama pants and patted his way to his sister's door. He knocked quietly, just loud enough to catch her attention, but not loud enough to wake her up if she was sleeping.

"Just a second!" He heard his sister exclaim in a hurried tone. "Come in!" She exclaimed again. Alec pushed the door open and stepped into her room. It was a complete opposite of Alec's. Where Alec's room was simple, glass, black, blue and white, Izzy's was dark red and turquoise and other outrageously clashing colors.

"Hey," Izzy said. "Is there something I can help you with?" She smiled at Alec with a smile that reminded him of the Cheshire cat…or perhaps an annoyed Chameleon, he couldn't decide which one.

"Um yeah," Alec muttered awkwardly standing in front of his sister's kind, but shamelessly scrutinizing eyes. "I was just wondering if you have any chapstick. My lips are chapped." He pointed at his lips and pressed them into a tight line.

"Oh yeah, let me see what I can do for ya," Izzy said and hopped of her bed and walked to her make-up table. She rummaged through some drawers that seemed to contain enough products for her to start up her own drug store. "So how was your day anyway?" Izzy asked cramming her whole arm into one of the ten drawers attached to her table thingy. "Did mom hassle you about the stupid decorations?"

"They're not stupid," Alec protested, not actually answering her question.

"Uh huh, you're such a momma's boy," Izzy stated ash she pulled out a pink and white striped little bag. She took out a little tube with the same colors as design. "Here, this is the only one I have. It's cherry flavored." She smirked at him and threw the tube. Alec caught it less than gracefully and took a through look at it.

"Are you sure it's not lip gloss?"

"Would I give you lip gloss?" Izzy asked in a mock hurt voice.

"I don't know, would you? You tell me," Alec retorted and smelled the Chapstick; it really did smell like cherries. Maybe smelling like cherries wasn't the worst thing that could happen to him though. Surely there were worse things he could smell like, for example cat pee had to be worse.

Izzy rolled her eyes. "Of course I wouldn't give you lip gloss; I need all of it for myself."

"I find it hard to understand how a girl can need more than thirty different tubes of lip gloss," Alec said and shook his head, confused was an understatement of his feelings when it came to female make-up products.

"Well," Izzy started. "It's just one of those things you're clueless about," Izzy said and flipped her dark hair over her shoulder. "Is there something else you want or can I go back to reading my magazine?"

"No…" Alec said looking at her bed to see a magazine, strangely so there was not a single one at sight. "That's all. Good night Iz and thanks for the Cherry Chapstick."

"No problem," Izzy said and hopped on her bed. "Good night Alec. Close the door as you go, please?"

"Will do," Alec answered and did as he promised.

He went to his room across the hall and rubbed his temples. It was clear that Izzy had lied to him about reading the magazine thing, but to be completely honest he wasn't under the impression that his sister was a goodie two shoes, he knew very well that she got herself into more trouble than the average ex-con, but Alec was too tired to begin to decipher her secrets. He yawned once again and swiped on the Chapstick. He licked his lips a bit and smiled as the sour cherry taste overtook his tongue. Placing the tube on the night table he went to grab his phone and then slipped under the covers. He instantly felt his body relax as his head hit the pillow. He very slowly started to drift into a light coma…ish stage, right between awaking and falling asleep. His eyelids started to feel extremely heavy. He just needed to close his eyes for a couple minutes and…

A buzz from his phone snapped him out of his comfortable daze. He almost swore out loud, but held his tongue. He felt for his phone in the dark and managed to grab it securely. He brought it close to his face and was instantly blinded by the white shiny light. Blinking rapidly he slid open the lock and looked closer to see what had caused the buzz. In the top right corner of the screen of his phone shone a symbol he didn't recognize right away. He took an even closer look and noticed it was a notification from an application he had downloaded the other day because his best friend Jace had recommended it. He scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. He hadn't actually created an account into the application so he was expecting no message.

"iF.R.I.E.N.D.S." is waiting for you to discover new, exciting people to talk to. Don't wait any longer and join in the fun!" With a weary groan, he turned the thing off and slept deeply enough to make a corpse jealous.

**AN: Okay so, the application name, I don't know, don't ask me it just happened. Aside from that, I would love if you could leave a review and tell me what you thought? Is it worth continuing? Would you like to read more? Hope you guys enjoyed it!**

**Love Always, Alexandra**


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Hi guys! Thank you so much for all the reviews, follows and favorites for this story. I hope you enjoy chapter two, you get to see Jace and Alec bro time:D

Cruel Reflections

All characters belong to Cassandra Clare.

Chapter 2.

Alec woke up feeling well enough rested that he didn't even get mad at Isabelle for taking the last cup of coffee...In front of him, no less. Okay, maybe he was a little upset. But what she didn't know couldn't hurt her. That was a step up from how he usually was before noon without his coffee. When he'd had his coffee and some toast with peanut butter he and Isabelle left for school. The entire trip took about fifteen minutes. When they got there the siblings split up. Isabelle was wearing low-rise skinny jeans and a v-neck red long-sleeved shirt with black heeled boots. Gold chandelier looking things hung from her ears. Alec prayed that she could keep herself out of trouble for a while. He, on the other hand, was wearing a simple T-shirt and faded jeans. This was because he had to work later and he just didn't see the point in getting more dressed when he was just going to change later. Isabelle called him weird. He liked to think of it as practical. Without a second glance, Isabelle took off in the direction of the main entrance leaving Alec standing in the cold winter air. He pulled his backpack closer to his body, hoping, maybe irrationally, that it would offer some warmth. He waited outside for a moment before a boy with golden locks of hair and a devilish grin appeared in front of him. "Whats up man?" Jace asked and gave Alec and awkward man hug; the kind where you kind of tap/ hit each other on the back while hugging.

"Nothing much, just freezing my ass off here waiting for you," Alec replied with a playful smile.

"I'm sorry Peaches, I had to pick up Clary," Jace said, nipping at Alec's winter jacket, knowing that the blue eyed boy thoroughly hated being called Peaches.

Alec screwed his face up at Jace and proceeded to roll his eyes. "Where is Clary?" He asked, noticing the lack of wild red curls bobbing up and down with a characteristic jumpy step to go with it.

"I don't know, she ran off somewhere with Maia to finish off some project for art class." Jace shrugged his shoulders and took a sip of the steaming cup of hot chocolate he was holding onto for dear life.

They started to make their way inside, since it was rather pointless to stand outside waiting for their toes to fall off due to the cold.

"It's really cold today," Alec stated for the lack of better conversation topics.

"Tell me about it," Jace muttered as he shoved his gray coat into his tiny locker. "I mean I know it's supposed to be cold up here, but this is fucking ridiculous."

"Hmm, yeah it might take some getting used to, California boy," Alec joked and shook his head again.

"You'd think since I've lived here for four years now, I'd already gotten used to it," Jace said and chucked his now empty hot chocolate cup in the trash.

Alec just shot Jace an apologetic smile as they lazily lounged down the hallway towards the computer lab. They were both seniors already doing courses for college credits, so they mostly had independent courses online.

The computer lab was a surprisingly comfortable space. Sure it was crowded with gigantic lame looking things the school still deemed to call computers, but it had its own charm. The walls were painted beige, a warm color and there were windows looking out in two directions. Jace and Alec took over their usual corner with two computers facing each other. They sat in silence for a while and the only sound audible was the clicking of the mouse and the tapping of their keyboards. "What are you gonna start with?" Jace asked, interrupting the comfortable silence. "Biology," Alec said, drawing out the word and letting it fall softly out of his mouth. "What about you?"

"History," Jace said, biting his cheek. "I'm doing a course on European history, it's really rad."

Alec snorted while beginning to read his next chapter on his online textbook. "Did you really just use the word rad?"

"Yeah, I did. You know, because _it's history_," Jace said and laughed at his own lame joke.

Alec couldn't help but laugh as well, the joke had been so bad it had turned good. "You're so hilarious," he said and sighed getting back to the chapter on hand.

After a good hour of studying had passed, Alec glanced around. The computer lab was still fairly quiet, only a few other students were occupying it. He took a quick look at Jace; the golden boy had a look of utter concentration on his face. Alec didn't dare to disturb him, he decided to just continue working on another subject and let Jace get lost in his Historic adventures.

He was only able to read ahead a couple of pages of Geography as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He swiftly got it out and slid the lock to open it. Again, he saw a familiar icon at the right hand corner of his phone screen. He tapped on the icon and a message popped open on his screen: "iF.R.I.E.N.D.S." is waiting for you to discover new, exciting people to talk to. Don't wait any longer and join in the fun!"

Alec scrunched his eyebrows. Damn Jace, him and his applications. Now the thing wouldn't leave Alec alone. He shut his eyes and moved on to the settings of his phone, hoping to find a way to delete the blasted thing.

"What was that?" Jace snapped him out of his thoughts.

"It was nothing," Alec answered.

"You know, you look too annoyed for it to have been nothing," Jace stated, kind of just waiting for Alec to respond.

Alec sighed and decided to go with the easy -or so he thought- way out. "It's a notification from the application you made me get the other day."

"Oh, I F.R.I.E.N.D.S?" Jace cocked his head to the side and peered over the side of his computer screen.

Alec simply nodded.

"Did you get a friend request? Or did someone start a chat with you?" Jace seemed to be totally over his deep concentration state, every ounce of his interest was now on Alec and the App.

"No, I just got asked to join in the fun." Alec rolled his eyes, still furiously trying to make his phone do what he wanted, which was easier said than done.

"Dude, you haven't made an account yet?" Jace exclaimed, sounding dumbfounded.

"No," Alec said with a questioning voice. "I'm probably not going to either. I'm deleting this App."

Before Alec could utter another word Jace leaned over the screen of his computer and grabbed Alec's phone out of his startled hands.

"What are you doing?" Alec asked, annoyed, raising his voice.

"I'm getting you a life," Jace stated.

"How exactly does making an account on a stupid App give me a life?" Alec asked, clearly irritated. He crossed his arms, waiting for Jace to come up with some smart ass reply.

"It just does," was all that the golden boy said as he tapped hurriedly on the phone screen.

"What are you doing?" Alec whined as he walked behind Jace to see what exactly he was doing. Alec didn't put it past him to do something ridiculously annoying but reasoned in Jace's mind.

"I'm making you an account," Jace said, filling out information Alec was kind of creeped out Jace knew.

"Okay, stop, Jace, I don't want an account," Alec said, now grabbing for his phone.

"Oh no way," Jace laughed as he moved further away from Alec, backing up towards the wall. "You need to find someone...special," Jace seemed to pick his words with utter carefulness.

"And you think a dating site is the best way to do that?" Alec huffed and crossed his arms. He was hoping that if he looked annoyed enough, Jace would just give up and let Alec have his phone back.

"Um, It's not a dating website," Jace said while tapping at the phone screen fiercely. His fingers were moving a mile a minute. "It's just a place to talk and meet new people with same interests like you, you know who like the same things as you do."

"Things being men?" Alec asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Yeah," Jace said, stretching the word. "...And books, cooking and whatever the hell else you like."

Alec sighed in desperation. "Why do I need to find someone special? Do I have to look? Can't it just happen?"

"Maybe if you live in one of those storybooks you read, but as long as we inhabit this universe," Jace pointed around the computer lab, still speaking quiet enough for the rest of the people in the room not being able to hear him. "...you have to work for a relationship or to find a relationship. Do you think Clary and I just happened?"

"Yes, actually I do because I witnessed it happen," Alec said, remembering how Jace had waltzed into their lives with his overflowing confidence and almost unfairly good looks. Clary had been severely annoyed by him for the first couple of weeks, forcing Jace to show her his sweeter side...you know, the one under layers and layers of snarky sarcasm and witty quips. Anyhow, the two were now one of the school's so called "power couples"; the bohemian artist and the golden boy. What else could you ask for? Then there was Alec, he was Jace's best friend. It had been like that since the first time they had talked. Alec had seen under Jace's facade and Jace had accepted Alec the way he was. The acceptance was fairly mutual. The only thing that bugged the hell out of Jace was Alec's shyness around people he liked. Just because the two boys were best friends, didn't mean that things had run completely smoothly. Alec had had a major crush on Jace, a crush which both of the boys had been painfully aware of...but that had passed once Alec had gotten over himself and seen that the two of them would have never worked as a couple. Seriously though, they were better off as friends. But ever since then, Jace had been annoyed by Alec's loneliness in that sense. Jace knew that Alec's parents weren't aware of their son's sexuality and he didn't really know if that was the reason Alec seemed to alienate himself from possible boyfriends or if it was just his shyness. Whatever the reason was, he wanted Alec to be happy and since being with Clary had made him so happy he figured finding someone special would make Alec happy as well. It was pretty straight forward Jace logic.

"Ok, so maybe it just happened, but I mean would it really hurt to just talk to people. In the worst case you'll just end up making new friends," Jace argued.

"In the worst case I'll end up talking to a serial killer," Alec mumbled and stopped trying to grab his phone from Jace.

"Here we go," Jace said. "Let's just do the account." He proceeded to sit down and pulled Alec a chair next to him. Alec reluctantly took a seat and nodded in defeat. There was really no point in arguing with Jace when his heart was in the right place.

"Alright," Jace said, making sure Alec was paying attention. "I already filled in most of the information but I still need you to add stuff that you like into this space right here…" Jace informed Alec. "But you can also add it after you've made the account. All you have to do now is look through the information I filled in and make sure it's right. Then just accept the terms that no one ever reads and BAM, you've got yourself an account."

"Aha," Alec mumbled and looked through the info, the e-mail was correct, so was the date of birth and… "What the hell Jace. That is not going to be my username."

Jace let out a melodical laugh. "Oh yes it is, it fits you."

"What does it say if my username is Peaches?" Alec asked his eyes wide.

"It says you really like peaches," Jace said happily and clicked the CREATE ACCOUNT button.

"Why'd you do that for?" Alec exclaimed. "You'd think since you're practically forcing me to make this account you'd at least let me pick out my own username."

"Yeaaah, you'd think that," Jace laughed.

Alec shook his head. "Are you happy now?"

"Me?" Jace asked, looking around gleefully. "I'm always happy. Happy is my middle name."

Alec sat in his car out in their driveway for a couple minutes. It was eight o'clock at night and he had just driven home from work. Today had been another exhausting day in the midst of many. At work he had had to run the frozen aisle instead of his usual aisle. To say he was freezing was the understatement of the year. So after all the cold he had encountered today, he gladly basked in the warmth provided by his very own car warmer.

"Mmm," Alec sighed as he let the hot air seep through his skin into his bones. After feeling he had defrosted enough, he opened the car door and emerged into the blizzard that had taken over the cozy little, well okay not so little, town he lived in.

As usual when he stepped into his house, his mother greeted him with a kiss on the cheek and then disappeared into the living room with knitting needles and a big ball of yarn. Alec stopped by the kitchen and said hello to his father, who was too absorbed in his Newspaper to murmur more than a quick hello.

The funny thing about stairs was that whenever you were tired, they seemed like a climb up Mount Everest. When Alec eventually finished the climb and crashed down on his bed, he looked over at his laptop and cringed at the thought of homework. He rolled on his back and took a long hard look at the ceiling.

"Alec?" He heard his sister's voice ask.

"Yeah?"

"Can I come in?"

"Sure," Alec replied.

He ran his hands through his coal black hair and watched as Izzy gracefully jumped on his bed. She sat cross-legged next to Alec and flipped her long brown hair over her shoulder. "I have a problem," she announced.

Alec raised his brow. "You do? Do your shoes not match your new jacket? "He smiled at his stupid joke.

"No!" Izzy exclaimed and playfully slapped Alec's arm. "I mean they do match, but that's not the point…"

"Please do get to the point then before I pass out," Alec said and motioned for her to continue.

"Well… I need a job. Do you think you could get me a job from Walmart?" Izzy cocked her head to the side and batted her lashes, like she always did when she wanted something.

Alec turned his head to the side; he didn't want to be affected by her puppy dog eyes. "I don't know, Iz, I don't think I'm in the place to get you a job from anywhere."

"Well can you at least ask? Just to see if they have any openings," Izzy begged and began to form a pout on her luscious lips.

Alec rolled his eyes and smiled at her before she would pull a full on upset face. "I'll ask."

"Yay!" Izzy exclaimed and grabbed Alec into a tight embrace.

"I said I would ask, I'm not promising it will be worth anything," he stated, hugging her back.

"Yeah, I totally understand. But yay anyway," Izzy smiled a playful smile and tapped Alec's bed. "I'm gonna go do…homework now." A mysterious look crossed her satisfied face.

"Yes, you go _do homework _now," Alec laughed. If there was one thing he knew, it was that Izzy most definitely didn't spend her nights doing homework, not whole heartedly anyway.

She slipped out of his room and closed the door with a firm thud. Alec sighed deeply remembering he should actually finish a couple of assignments for school. Unlike Izzy, he couldn't just slack and do things half-heartedly. He was in it to win it or he wasn't in it at all. With a groan he leaned forward and opened his blue lap top. He pulled up a file filled with his assignments and started working on an essay that had something to do with Geopolitics. Alec wrote until his fingers were numb and the tapping of his keyboard was static to his ears. As he was finishing up his last sentence, tying together all of his excellent points and facts, he let out an extremely exhausted yawn. He saved his file and rubbed his eyes feverishly to keep him awake.

Deciding to take a shower in the morning, he simply shed his clothes off and pulled on his dark blue pajama pants and crashed into bed. How was it that a human body could just melt into a soft bed and reload after facing all the worries of the world? Sleep really was a marvellous thing.

As Alec was drifting to sleep, his phone let out what seemed to him to be an ear-splitting sound. Alec groaned and rolled over to his side to reach for the blasted thing from his nightstand. He unlocked his phone and whined as the blinding light burned his eyes. "Shit," he muttered and squinted his eyes to focus on the screen. He noticed the familiar logo of **I F.R.I.E.N.D.S.** radiating light. "Great, this thing is even bothering me in my sleep."

Despite his tiredness, he pressed the logo and opened the app. Might as well check what the fuss was all about. The familiarish background of the app now had a red message bubble dangling in the right hand corner. Alec clicked the bubble and scrunched his brow as he read the text out loud to himself. "Violin-boy19, wants to start a chat with you."

Alec bit his lip and locked his phone. A surge of adrenaline rushed into his system. This was it; someone actually wanted to talk to him. What was he supposed to do? Accept or not to accept? He had no idea who this Violin boy was. All he knew was that presumably he was a boy, who maybe owned a violin. That wasn't much to go by with. Besides, why would he want to talk to Alec, or Peaches or whatever? Maybe he was looking for a girl, Peaches definitely would indicate that. Alec contemplated for a good while until he set his phone back on to his night stand. A second later he grabbed it again, unlocked the phone, opened the app and hit accept.

_-You and Violin-Boy19 have now started a chat together!_

Alec swallowed and set his phone down, burying his face deep into his soft comfortable pillow and closed his eyes.

AN: So...what did you think? Did you like how Jace and Alec acted together? And most importantly, who do you think Violin boy is?

Thanks for reading!

Love Always, Alexandra


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: So hi again guys! Thank you so much for all the reviews and favorites and follows! This chapter is from Magnus' point of view and I really hope you like it. Also, because I don't have a Beta I'm sorry for any possible grammar mistakes or that sort of things, I try to proof read, but I'm only human *Sigh***

**Anyhow, I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

Cruel Reflections

All characters belong to Cassandra the AMAZING Clare.

Chapter 3.

Magnus' point of view

Waking up early had never been one of Magnus Bane's talents. He slowly opened his eyes, letting in the sneaky rays of morning light filtering through his plush red curtains. "Mh," he grumbled and pulled the covers over his face. "It buurns." His voice sounded raspy and very unattractive; still he managed to wake up the brown haired girl sprawled across his bed. He narrowed his eyes and called her name as she half unconsciously mumbled something incomprehensible. "Tessa!"

"Huh?" The girl asked with very little interest embedded in her voice. She seemed to be desperately grasping on to the edges of her dream.

"What time is it?" Magnus croaked, still hiding under the covers.

"How the hell should I know?" Tessa replied and turned to lie down on her stomach. She gently tugged at the blanket covering Magnus' face. "What are you doing?" She asked with a slightly amused voice.

"I'm hiding from the blinding light," Magnus replied and felt a jolt of laughter shutter through his body. He felt Tessa laugh next to him as well. "Whatever time it is, it's too early," he muttered and stretched to take a look at his alarm clock radio. "It's noon," he stated calmly, as if he were doing the weather forecast.

"It's noon?" Tessa exclaimed and sat up rigid. She was wearing one of Magnus' oversized sweaters that was quite frankly gigantic when covering her lanky frame. She seemed to drown in the green fabric. "How long did we sleep for?"

"I don't know…like five hours," Magnus guessed and settled down in a comfortable position.

"Oh my God," Tessa sighed and rubbed her eyes, smudging her yesterday's make- up. "How much wine did we drink last night?"

"I don't know…like three bottles between me, you, Cam, Will and Ragnor." Magnus turned to look at Tessa, who was currently sighing even deeper into her pale hands.

"You worry too much Tessie," he said, letting out an exhausted laugh and grabbing his best friend into a tight embrace.

"I don't. I'm just being rationally concerned," Tessa protested, but melted into his embrace anyway.

"Well, that kind of does make sense, you are the most rational of my friends," Magnus said. "You were the only one of our book club to actually read the book we chose for this month."

"Yeah, honestly I don't even know why we started the whole club. You guys don't even care about the books, those wonderful pieces of magic; all you want to do is get drunk and gossip." Tessa's mouth twitched into a full pout.

"So? What's the point in having a book club if you don't get drunk and gossip?"

"The point is to read the book," Tessa said and tapped Magnus' back.

"Huh," Magnus said with a thoughtful look crossing his face. "That would explain why it's called a book club instead of a wine and gossip club."

"See, there you go." Tessa smiled and stretched her arms. "I need to go take a shower. Then I have to get going. I'm working today."

"Buu!" Magnus croaked as Tessa got up and walked to Magnus' scented candle filled washroom. "You're such a goodie two shoes!"

He could hear Tessa laughing at his comment as she closed the door behind her. Magnus slumped back on his queen sized bed and enjoyed the feeling of plush pillows and fluffy blankets around him. He could have spent the whole day in bed, but it just so happened that he also had to work today…He didn't feel like missing work, although he had no qualms in being a tad late. He heard the water going on in the washroom and let out a long yawn, stretching his arms, letting his muscles protest in unison.

With great reluctance, Magnus dragged his overly exhausted body out of bed and wrapped himself in his robe. "I need some breakfast," he mumbled to himself and pushed his feet into his pink fluffy slippers Cam had gotten him last Christmas. He slouched down the narrow dark stairs leading straight down to his kitchen and flipped the lights on. Shuffling to the fridge, he took out a carton of orange juice and milk and set them down on the dark wooden island serving as a dining table. He took out some granola and cereal from the cabinets lining the dark blue walls and set the boxes down with the milk and orange juice.

He fixed himself some breakfast and started shoving spoonfuls of whole wheat cereal down his throat. He didn't even concentrate on the taste; all he cared about was that his stomach would stop grumbling like and old grumpy man. By the time Tessa emerged down into the kitchen he was all done and was just pushing lonely flakes of cereal around in the bowl of milk sitting in front of him.

"You made breakfast for me?" Tessa asked in a cheery voice. She looked remarkably perky and fresh after her morning shower. Her long brown hair was tied up in a tight bun, still dripping water. She was wearing a dark blue sweater and jeans to go with it. Her gray eyes shone with a light Magnus' emerald ones could hardly match after a night of drinking with their group of friends.

"Yes, it's a luxury breakfast of cereal and possibly old milk," Magnus said and pointed at his bowl. "I should have had the cereal with orange juice."

Tessa screwed her face up. "That's disgusting."

"Not as disgusting as old milk," Magnus muttered as Tessa took a whiff of the carton's contents.

"You should probably throw it out," she said and placed it back on the counter and poured herself a glass of non-expired good old OJ.

"Probably," Magnus muttered and licked his lips. "I need to go brush my teeth."

"Go, I'll show myself out after I'm done with this," she said and pointed to her glass. "I'm already running late anyway."

"Okay," Magnus said and put his plate in the sink. He walked up to Tessa and kissed her on the cheek. "Bye Tessie. See you at Garroway's on Friday?"

"You bet your hat on it," Tessa said and waved him away.

Magnus walked upstairs and went straight for the washroom. He took hold of his orange toothbrush and popped open a tube of mint Colgate and started cleansing his teeth. Dental hygiene, it was one thing Magnus prided himself on. Not in a creepy way, but who doesn't like a nice smile? After he was done rinsing his mouth, he flashed a smile at himself and glared at the reflection staring back through the mirror at him. It was most definitely him; tawny skin, dark hair, piercing green eyes, and a Hollywood smile…Still something wasn't quite right. He looked a bit older than a regular twenty-one-year-old should look. Maybe it was the wrinkles appearing of countless nights laughing with his friends, or the toll that drinking every weekend was taking on him, or maybe it was the smoking he always started when he was stressed. Whatever it was it nagged at him in the back of his mind.

Quickly, he shrugged those gloomy thoughts out of his mind. After all there was nothing missing in his life. He had it all; nice flat, good looks, precious friends, an occasional affair if he wanted so. The world was his playground, how dare he complain?

Later that Wednesday night, Magnus found himself leaning against a grimy wall at an alley that the back door of _Jessie's bar_ lead to. He had worked there as a bar tender for six months now and he could never decide whether he liked the place or not. Jessie's was kind of a classy establishment. The walls were ranging colors of pink and the lighting was warm and inviting. Basically the décor made even Magnus want to puke with all its overbearing girly details. But then the bar and electronics were super high end and worked flawlessly and the pay wasn't bad either, so really it was a 50/50 situation.

Magnus inhaled deeply, feeling the cloud of toxic smoke invading his lungs and calming his mind. Whenever he was stressed he came out to the alley and had a smoke or a few and tried not to have a meltdown. It wasn't technically his break, but Jessie wasn't there tonight and his manager was pretty chill, so he believed he could take some time off too cool down. Honestly, the nagging feeling from this morning was back and Magnus just wanted to chase it away. He took another breath of his smoke and then threw it on the ground, stepping on it to put it out.

He heard the old rusty back door open just a bit and saw his manager Sophie peek outside. "Magnus," she called with her timid voice.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Are you coming back inside? I could use some help," she said, indicating that the question was more of a gentle suggestion.

"Yeah of course," Magnus said eager to help Sophie out. "I'm sorry I took so long, I just needed to clear my head."

"No problem, just hurry up, eh?"

"Yeah, I'll be right in," Magnus said. Sophie nodded and disappeared inside leaving Magnus standing in the bone numbing November air. He quickly ran a worrisome hand through his hair and opened the door with a jolt. As soon as he stepped inside he could feel his skin start to prickle from the sudden wave of heat colliding with the cold. He took off his leather jacket and threw it on the floor of the personnel room. Walking straight into the main bar area, he settled behind the bar and pulled on one of his most charming smiles, eager to serve customers. It was a Wednesday night and the bar was full. Jessie's always had a steady stream of customers no matter what day of the week it was. Whether it was just a sophisticated drink or getting shit faced you wanted, Jessie's was the place to go to and everyone knew it. During one night Magnus made Margaritas, Pina Coladas and basically drinks that consisted of pure liquor…Everyone picked their poison and he served it to them without remorse, knowing how good it felt to get that little dose of something that relaxed you and made you forget about your problems.

"Hi!"

Magnus snapped out of his thoughts and looked up. He instantly smiled as he recognized the silver haired young man sitting in front of him leaning against the bar.

"Hello, Jem. How are you doing today?"

"Same old, same old," Jem said and tapped the counter with his pale fingers. "Now, you my friend, look terrible, which begs the question how are you doing."

Magnus shook his head and smiled meekly at Jem's insightfulness. Magnus couldn't quite figure him out. He just showed up at Jessie's one night and became a regular and started spewing his wisdom and insightful remarks. He didn't seem like a troublesome young man who came to Jessie's to drink his problems away, but he never brought anyone with him either. It was all rather mysterious and Magnus liked it very, very much.

"Are you going to answer my question or will I be forced to guess around?" Jem asked, cocking his head to the side. He wore a gentle smile, kind of encouraging Magnus to speak.

Instead of opening up to Jem, Magnus shook his head and swallowed. "I think I'd like to see you guess, little Mr. Shrink. Now tell me, what will you be drinking today?"

Jem looked a bit disappointed by Magnus' answer, but nodded politely. "I'd like a glass of red wine."

"Okay, It'll be right up," Magnus said and worked on the order right away. As he put down the delicate glass full of dark liquid in front of Jem, an image of last night flashed across his eyes. He briefly saw Tessa curling up with laughter, bringing another sip of wine to her lips. Will was there as well, he sat on Magnus' purple couch next to Camille, both of them talking with animated voices.

"You seem awfully thoughtful today," Jem stated, once again dragging Magnus away from his happy memories.

"Yeah, well I have a lot to think about."

Jem raised a single eyebrow and said not a word. He just kind of gave Magnus an unnerving look that made the emerald eyed man shiver. "Don't try to work your witchy magic on me," Magnus said with a playful tone and waved his finger at Jem.

"How'd you know I was trying to read your mind?" Jem asked, with a mock surprised voice, playing along with Magnus. He obviously noticed that whatever was bugging the bartender, it was something he didn't want to talk about.

"I know these things because I'm special," Magnus said and leaned forward, closing in on Jem.

"Oh special you say?" Jem asked playfully and bit his lip.

Magnus knitted his eyebrows together and stared into Jem's dark eyes. "You're a strange, strange little silver haired man," he mumbled and stole his glass of wine.

"I've been called worse," Jem said and trailed his eyes elsewhere.

"I bet you've been called cute," Magnus said, feeling the comforting warmth of the red wine flowing down his throat. "How come you never bring anyone here with you?"

"I don't have anyone to bring," Jem answered, honestly like he always did.

"I find that hard to believe. You've got good looks; you're nice, sweet, and funny when you want to be…unless you're a serial killer I don't see why you would have trouble finding someone to bring here."

"Did you ever think that maybe I don't want anyone?"

Magnus stopped in his tracks and put down the glass of wine he'd been playing with. He really had to think about Jem's answer for a while. The idea seemed absurd to him. Everyone needed someone. No matter how happy they were alone, they always needed someone. It was a given. "That's ridiculous; no one wants to be alone."

"Define being alone, though." Jem's face was taken over by a smile that was one of a kind and scared Magnus to the very core.

"You're strange… just like I said, very, very strange." Magnus looked over to the other edge of the bar and noticed unattended customers. A couple of middle aged women bad mouthing their boss. Yes, that would be way easier than dealing with all the things Jem made him think about. "I'm sorry; I got to go help those lovely ladies over there. Hope you have a good one."

Jem nodded at him which made Magnus feel a tad uneasy as he walked across the warm bar to serve mindlessly.

"Hello Ladies," Magnus chimed. "What can I get you?"

The women sitting by the bar instantly brightened up, looking up at Magnus, who was smiling crookedly.

"Um," one of the ladies mumbled, fixing her black rimmed glasses. "I'd like a white wine spritzer."

"Will do," Magnus said and winked seductively which he was positive made the women swoon over him just like teenage girls swooned over vampires and pretty boys.

**AN: So, what did you think of Magnus? Did you like Tessa? What about Jem? Okay I'll stop asking questions now, but honestly reviews would be like Magnus serving me a drink. You know what to do!**

**Love Always, Alexandra!**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Okay so here goes chapter four! It's back to Alec's point of view and we learn more about the mysterious Violin-boy19. Again, thank you for all the likes, favorites and reviews!**

**Hope you enjoy!**

Cruel Reflections

All characters belong to Cassandra Clare; I just like to play with them.

Chapter 4.

Alec sat in the beige colored computer lab, doing his Geography assignments, working harder than he would've liked. How are mountains created? Why does the world work the way it does? Most importantly, how was Hawaii created? Alec tackled these killer questions with utmost concentration. Jace on the other hand sat opposite of him, like always, and insisted on reading his history book out loud. Honestly it was a bit hard to concentrate on mountains and lava and stuff while Jace went on and on about how the First World War was a complete and utter disaster in his opinion, of course.

A vibrating buzz from Alec's phone made the table shake lightly. Alec raised an eyebrow and grabbed his phone. In all honestly he had been avoiding it since last night, since he had accepted Violin boy's chat request. So far he had gotten no message or nothing, which kind of made him glad and relieved, but at the same time a bit sad and confused. Go figure. His feelings were doing cartwheels inside his head even though he had never voiced his concerns out loud. In his mind all these jumbled thoughts seemed justified, but when he thought about speaking out his feelings they sounded silly and childish. And maybe they were a bit infantile, but the point was that he recognized the fact and tried to make sense of it.

Alec slid the lock of his phone open and felt a wave of adrenaline and relief wash over him all in one second. He quickly opened **i. F.R.I.E.N.D.S. **and clicked the now flashing chat icon. He smiled to himself for no particular reason as he read the first message out loud.

Violin boy: _Hi._

It was awfully simple and plain. What the hell was Alec supposed to say to that? He bit his lip in frustration whilst his fingertips lingered above his screen. Finally he typed.

Peaches: _Hi._

Wow Alec that was amazing. How did you ever come up with such a reply? Alec scowled at his lacking social skills and wished he could have a do-over. A few moments passed with his heartbeat chugging in his ears. Typing…the screen said. Okay, so Violin boy is typing. That's a good thing, right? Alec shook his head but didn't put his phone down.

Violin boy_: So, thanks for accepting my chat request. I noticed we had a few common interests, that's why I added you._

Okay, so that was…again very plain and hard to interpret. Or was Alec just overanalyzing things. What was he supposed to say?

Peaches: _No problem, I didn't really get a chance to look at your profile so I don't know what our common interests are._

Violin boy: _Would you like some examples?_

Did he want examples? Was that a playful comment or an actual offer? This whole chatting thing was harder than he thought. Or again, maybe he was just making a mountain out of a mole hill.

Peaches: _Sure._

Violin boy: _Well for example we seem to share the love for books. Also I like traveling, and well I don't mind peaches._

Alec furrowed his brown in confusion.

Peaches: _You…don't mind peaches?_

Violin boy: _Yes. Your profile says you have taken a distinct liking to peaches. I found that quite unique. In a good way, you know._

Alec blinked rapidly a couple of times. Then swiftly moved to his profile and had a minor stroke.

"Jace!" He hissed.

"Huh?" Jace raised his eyes to meet Alec's steely stare. "Oh, hell what'd I do now?" Jace asked, rolling his eyes in an over dramatic manner.

"What the hell did you write in my** i. F.R.I.E.N.D.S** profile?"

A look of confusion crossed Jace's face until of course the memory of making Alec's profile seemed to dawn in his mind. A sly grin slowly appeared on his angelic face. "Oh Yeaaah, I remember now. That profile is a keeper," Jace said.

"A distinct liking to peaches? Really Jace, is that the best you could come up with?

"Actually no it's not. If I had my way your profile would also contain that super cute picture of you in your peach themed pajamas," Jace said, his mind lingering in Maryse's old family picture album. "That picture is the most adorable thing I have ever seen." Jace winked. That Goddamned bastard winked.

"I was five!" Alec exclaimed, earning curious looks throughout the computer lab. He blushed slightly, which made him feel even more embarrassed, knowing the red color would lace along his cheeks any time soon. Sinking down lower on his chair, he continued to glare at Jace with a supremely disapproving look. "So what if I happened to like peaches."

"Hey, that's okay," Jace stated. "If nothing, saying that you have a distinct liking to peaches will just explain your username."

Alec contemplated Jace's words in his mind quietly for a while. He looked at the matter from all points of view that he could think of and actually ended up agreeing with Jace. The comment would do less harm than it would do good.

"So how come you're only reading your profile now? I thought you said you added stuff on it yesterday."

"I did," Alec sighed. "But I didn't really read through it until I got this chat request."

"Ooh," Jace chimed and lost all interest in his history adventures. "Who are you chatting with? How long has it been? Tell me everything."

Alec gave Jace a questioning look. "First of all I've had this app for, like, three days so it hasn't been that long. Second of all I don't know who I'm chatting with. The username is Violin boy, that's all I know. Oh and also he has common interest with me, like books and travelling, but that you probably figured out already. And he just send me a message a minute or so ago."

Jace kept his eyes on Alec and slowly shook his head. "You know, you talk about this dude like you're reading someone's medical stats."

"Are you saying I'd make a good doctor?"

"No, I'm saying you'd make a really boring doctor." Jace laughed letting his melodic laugh run through the room.

Alec shook his head in slight dismay. "Luckily for us then, I won't be a doctor."

"Why? Too much blood?" Jace asked playfully.

"No, I just don't think I could be responsible for people's health and wellbeing. I mean if I got some diagnose wrong or somehow did the wrong thing, I'd beat myself up for it forever." Alec couldn't help but sink into the thought. Even just thinking about all that responsibility made him mentally choke.

"That's true. You always overthink and second guess things. I'm not saying it's a bad quality to have…" Jace let his words hang heavily in the air. "…Except that it is sometimes."

"You're making so much sense right now," Alec laughed and went back to checking his phone.

"Yeah, you just dismiss me and go back to your online friend," Jace huffed in a mock jealous voice. "You're the one missing out on my eternal wisdom."

Alec brought his hand up to cover his smile, looking at Jace sideways, he could see that the golden boy was smirking wildly. "You know I love you."

"Oh yeah, we totally have the bromance of all bromances." Jace blew a kiss at Alec and made him blush wildly. It wasn't that he actually felt like Jace was being anything but playful, still he couldn't help it. He would be as red as a tomato faster than you could say…well anything. It was a bad habit, you could say. Izzy argued that it was just a biological reaction that was triggered by Alec's sensitive mind, but Alec felt that she had no idea what she was talking about.

"Yeah, watch out Clary. Before you know it I'll be stealing you away to play video games and to go to poetry night." Alec explained, waving his hands in a circular pattern.

"The spooky thing is that Clary would totally love going to a poetry night," Jace said, rubbing his forehead. "You think you could take her?"

Alec shot him a look saying 'Are you kidding me, because you better be kidding me' and glanced at his phone.

_Violin-boy19: So I have an idea; kind of a quick way to get to know each other. Let's play a game of questions. Each one gets ten and the other is required to answer truthfully. How does that sound?_

How did that sound? Alec wasn't sure he was ready to answer truthfully to a complete stranger, but then again Violin boy had no way of telling if his answers were actually truthful. But he would most definitely feel guilty for not answering truthfully, that's just the way he was.

_Peaches: I would love to get to know you, but I don't know if I'm ready to answer every single question you might ask._

Alec regretted sending the message immediately. He sounded way too vested in this…this, what was this? Surely not a relationship, he'd barely talked to this guy. he'd never actually met him in person. Geez, Alec cursed his over analytical brain.

_Violin-boy 19: You're really taking this seriously, no kidding around?_

_Peaches: Yeah, I'm just kind of reserved…I guess._

_Violin-boy 19: That's alright, I'm not exactly too open myself. That's why it's easy or at least easier talking to people online._

_Peaches: Ok. Well I guess you can ask first then._

_Violin-boy19: Okay well, I already read your profile so I know the basics…Let me see. What is your favorite book?_

Alec let out a dulled down laugh. How on earth was he supposed to answer such a question? Honestly, he supposed.

_Peaches: I don't know honestly, there's too many to pick. Sometimes I like reading classics, but sometimes I like fantasy novels or horror or YA books, really anything but dictionaries._

_Violin-boy19: You seem to live by the rule that honesty is the best policy._

_Peaches: Was that a question? Because I think it's my turn to ask._

_Violin-boy19: No, it was merely a statement. But you are right, ask and you shall be answered._

_Peaches: I for one haven't read your profile so I guess I'll start with the basics… Um how old are you?_

_Violin-boy19: I'm nineteen, as the name may imply. And just to make sure you won't waste a precious question, yes, I do play the violin._

Rolling his eyes, Alec felt a suspiciously warm smile spread across his angled features. It was typically very hard to find anything soft in Alec's features. He was all angles and pointed shadows embedded with icy blue eyes and coal black hair to frame the piece of art. Both of his parents were very unique people. People liked to say that Robert was handsome with his dark eyes, hair and pale complexion to balance them out. But people also liked to say that Robert was the luckiest man on earth to be married to Maryse. There was simply no way to get around it; Maryse Lightwood was and always would be striking. It wasn't just her beautiful looks that made people take a double take. It wasn't just her dark shimmering hair or her stormy grey eyes that caught people's attention. No, it was the way she carried herself. Even though Alec didn't always agree with the way she saw life, he had to admit that it fit her. People could see that she was a woman who stood behind what she believed in and strived to be good, strived to matter. And that was why even when Maryse Lightwood would age, she would never lose her striking looks. Alec had never liked being compared to his mother; people always said they looked so much alike. They always marvelled over how it was possible for Isabelle to look so much like her father and how Alec could resemble his mother so much. Being compared to Maryse Lightwood meant pressure, pressure to be good and strive to matter.

_Peaches: Okay so maybe I should have seen that coming. You go ahead and come up with a better question._

The gleam of his computer screen distracted Alec, he was forced to put his phone down and concentrate on the text at hand. He started absentmindedly scrolling through the Geography text that now seemed as interesting as a bag of rice, which was very much not interesting at all.

_Violin-boy19: What is your favorite band, musician or piece of music?_

_Peaches: I don't know. It's hard to pick just one. I mean I guess I listen to all kinds of music, mostly whatever is on the radio._

_Violin-boy19: That's understandable_

_Peaches: So is it my turn now?_

_Violin-boy19: Yes, go ahead. What would you like to know?_

_Peaches: Um…do you study?_

_Violin-boy19: I study music on my own and I've dabbled with philosophy as well._

Alec scrunched his eyebrows and took a minute to process the conversation he was currently having. It didn't really seem real. It seemed guidebook crazy unreal. Almost as if someone was messing with him. Alec looked up from his phone, letting his gaze land on Jace, who was once again deeply in thought, probably contemplating on the efficiency of armies back in the "good old days" as he liked to call them.

"Jace," Alec called, "Are you Violin-boy19?"

Jace whipped his head around and looked confused as hell. "Are you high?"

"No," Alec replied and depend his frown. "Why would you ask that?"

"My question exactly," Jace said, looking a bit offended. "I can't believe you would accuse me of screwing with you like that… Or maybe I can believe that, but I swear I'm not messing with you."

"Oh." Was all that Alec said, before he shifted his eyes back to the screen of his phone.

"So besides the usual reasons, why are you questioning my character?" Jace asked and once again closed his history tab.

"I don't know, this whole i.F.R.I.E.N.D.S. thing is super weird. Like how do I know these people aren't just messing with me? How do I know they're telling the truth? And am I supposed to question what they want from me?"

"You don't. You can't and no." Jace stated.

"How…"

"The hell are you supposed to survive?" Jace finished Alec's question. "You just need not to over think it."

"Thanks, but I can't really help it." Alec couldn't take his eyes off the screen and conversation.

"Look, just be careful and don't reveal information about yourself that you wouldn't post on social media. That's a good ground rule."

"I guess, yeah, yeah…ground rules. We need to set those, definitely." Alec nodded absentmindedly.

"Remember not to post any nudes," Jace added.

Alec fiddled with his phone trying to catalogue some sort of collection of rules he could go by. "Yeah, no nudes, got to add that to the list…wait what?"

Jace grinned. "Hey, people do crazy shit online."

"Nudes," Alec huffed. "What idiot would post nudes?"

"You'd be surprised," Jace said, crossing his arms. "People don't realize what the consequences of a naked picture could be. It's sent online, it doesn't seem real, until it spreads like a wildfire and then you're screwed."

"Wow," Alec sighed. "I think I'm too careful to get screwed."

"Let's hope so Peaches," Jace laughed and winked.

"I should probably message him back," Alec said, drawing his attention to his phone screen again.

_Peaches: Okay, that sounds cool._

_Violin-boy19: What about you, do you study?_

_Peaches: Yeah, I study science, mostly biology and geography._

_Violin-boy19: That's great; you're a smart one then._

_Peaches: Well that depends, there's different kinds of smart. _

_Violin-boy19: That's true, but they're all good kinds of smart._

_Peaches: Why do I get the feeling you're a very positive person and always looking for the silver lining?_

_Violin-boy19: Probably because I'm always looking up to the sky, it's the best way to find silver linings._

_Peaches: Hahaha that's a great philosophy._

_Violin-boy19: And that ladies and gentlemen is why I study philosophy._

_Peaches: Of course. I have another question for you. You don't have to answer this one if you don't want to but I'm curious. Why did you add me?_

_Violin-boy19: Honest answer or the answer that will make me seem stable and normal?_

_Peaches: Honest answer please, even if you think I'll like the stable normal one better._

_Violin-boy19: Well if you insist…*Sighs* I was at a bar, getting very drunk and the name Peaches was the most hilarious thing I could think of at that moment so therefor we became friends._

_Peaches: We're friends?_

_Violin-boy19: I hope so?_

_Peaches: We'll see?_

_Violin-boy19: Now I'm confused?_

_Peaches: We can decide after we finish the 10 questions._

_Violin-boy19: How many have we done?_

_Peaches: I think it's five or six now?_

_Violin-boy19: Let's say five._

_Peaches: Okay :D_

_Violin-boy19: Did I just earn a smiley face?_

_Peaches: Maybe, I guess you did, but I've got to go now. I have to finish reading something for school._

_Violin-boy19: Alright, have a good one._

_Peaches: Right back at ya._

"He seems nice," Alec stated and put his phone down.

"Violin guy?" Jace asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Alec said, feeling better about the whole situation.

"Nice as in nice or nice as in _nice_," Jace asked.

"What's the difference? Alec asked, his mind doing cartwheels.

"Oh you know," Jace said, spreading his arms and wiggling his eyebrows.

Alec shook his head and shied away. "You're bawdy."

"But that's why you love me, right?"

"Sure," Alec said, getting back to his school work.

**AN: So how did you like it? Do you like Violin-boy? Just tell me what you thought of it over all? I kind of got the feeling you guys weren't that into Magnus' point of view, so do tell me which one you like better, Alec or Magnus' POV? Anyhow, thank you so much for reading!**

**Love Always, Alexandra!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! So being sick sucks, but it did give me the time to edit my latest chapter, which by the way was giving me a lot of trouble. Anyhow, it's done now, so please enjoy it! Also thanks to all the people who reviewed and followed and liked this story.**

Cruel reflections

All characters belong to the Magnificent Cassandra Clare

Chapter five

Magnus' point of view

"I find it extremely, intoxicatingly curious, how you manage to be such an asshole, but in such a suave way," Magnus said, dragging his words out slowly.

"Well, what can I say, Bane? It's a talent," William Herondale said, spreading his arms open, reaching for a hug.

"You want a hug, but you don't deserve one," Magnus said, scolding the cheeky bastard.

"Yes, but you are drunk and you love my blue eyes and black hair, so I think my chances of getting a hug out of you are pretty good, old buddy," Will laughed, a slur dripping into his sharp voice.

"You two are disgusting drunks," Camille Belcourt noted and took a sip of her gin tonic. "You seriously need to learn your limits."

"They don't have limits," Tessa laughed, pushing a strand of her brown hair behind her ear. Her cheeks were red and her eyes bright. She had just finished her shift at work and walked into Garroway's to enjoy Friday night with her friends. "How long have you guys been here?"

"I've been here for an hour," Camille answered. "Those two have probably been here since noon."

"That is a lie!" Will exclaimed making Magnus burst out laughing and earning curious looks from across the room.

"Will, tone it down a bit," Tessa cautioned as she put her glass of coke down.

"But she lies," Will insisted, looking pleadingly to Tessa for support.

"Will's right, you know," Magnus stated, losing interest in the argument, hoping to diffuse it before it even started. "Garroway's isn't open till three o' clock."

Camille simply huffed and directed her eyes in the opposite direction. Her long blond curls fell onto her pale shoulders, lacing the neckline of her tiny tiny olive-green cocktail dress.

"Okay, now let's just try and enjoy the night," Tessa said, taking the role of the mediator as she always did with this group of people. The thing with being friends with someone for a long time was that you weren't afraid to be blunt with them, which is why it was good that level headed Tessa was a part of the group.

"Tess has a point," Magnus said. "We should all appreciate each other's company."

"The alcohol has finally melted his brain," Camille commented. "He's gone all soft."

"No, no," Will mumbled. "Bane's got a point. I love you guys, seriously, even you Cam."

Camille turned to look at Will with her striking green eyes, her gaze piercing his blue eyes, emerald blaze against icy blue. "Your declaration of love would be much more believable if it wasn't accompanied by that insufferable slur of yours, William."

"Here we go," Tessa whispered to Magnus. She nudged closer to Magnus and leaned against his shoulder. Will and Camille on the other hand stayed as far as possible from each other on the other side of the booth. It was like there was a magnetic force between them, making sure they wouldn't touch.

"You insult me?" William asked in mock horror.

"Oh cry me a river," Camille retorted, flipping her hair.

"She just…Did she just flip her hair at me?" William asked, fixing the collar of his black dress shirt. He looked at Tessa and Magnus waiting for them to agree with him.

"Umm," Tessa muttered, looking to Magnus for help.

"We're not getting involved. It always ends badly with you two."

"Now they're insulting us, Camille. Please feel free to jump in whenever you want to," Will stated, looking heartbroken.

"You're paranoid, William," Cam said and stirred her drink with a cocktail stick. She smiled widely and looked towards the entrance of Garroway's. Her smile grew wider as a figure approached their booth.

"Well, well," Camille mumbled under her breath and placed the cocktail stick between her teeth. "Look at that, maybe you haven't spoiled the evening completely after all."

Magnus craned his neck to see who had caught Camille's eye and smiled widely as he recognized the figure walking towards their booth. "James! You came!"

The silver haired boy smiled and placed his fingers on the edge of their table. "I did. Your invitation left me curious."

"Sit! Sit down, please," Magnus gestured and slid over closer to Will so that Jem could have some room.

"Thank you," Jem said and plopped down on the cushioned seat.

"So…" Camille smiled, "Are you going to tell us who your friend is, Magnus?"

"Oh yes. Friends… And Will," Magnus started, earning a malicious glare from Will and a half-hearted laugh from Tessa. "This wonderful gentleman is James "Jem" Carstairs."

"Pleased to meet you James," Camille purred and reached to shake Jem's hand.

"The pleasure is all mine, but I do prefer people calling me Jem."

"I like him," Will stated. "He's nice."

Jem laughed and shook his head. "Will was it?"

"Yes. I am the one and only William Herondale the heartthrob extraordinaire," Will said and leaned against the back of the booth. He smiled and looked at Jem from under his pitch dark eyelashes. "You have been friends with Bane for a long time?"

"I met him a month ago, when I moved into town. I go to Jessie's," Jem said and sat with his back straight and his eyes bright.

"That's a shame. The liquor at Garroway's tastes manlier," Will retorted and pushed back his hair.

"It gets the job done. Besides the liquor isn't why I go there."

"Ooh," Camille chimed. "You're a player then? All those alcohol infused women searching for fun, a guy like you would surely have no trouble finding some company."

"No," Jem shook his head again. "I'm just curious, about Magnus. He's a bit of a mystery to me and I can't stop putting the puzzle pieces together."

"I can understand that," Tessa said, turning to Jem, really looking at him for the first time. She smiled the kindest smile Magnus had seen her smile in a long time. "I'm kind of a puzzle solver myself."

Jem smiled. There was so much smiling going on that Magnus' smiling muscles started to ache just by looking at all those pearly whites. "And she's the only one in our book club who bothers to read the book."

"That's good to know," Jem said and took out a copy of The Book Thief out of his carrier bag. "I started reading this a week ago. Everyone keeps telling me how good it is, but I've never gotten to reading it."

"Oh it is good!" Tessa exclaimed. "I enjoyed reading it very much. The narrator is very interesting, but questionable in a way."

"I see what you mean."

Magnus smirked, knowing he had done well by inviting Jem to join them. He just knew Tessa and Jem would hit it on. Even if he had to listen to book talk without any sultry gossip or scandals embedded in it, he would suffer silently, because he had a feeling about those two; a good feeling for a change.

Magnus let Tessa slip closer to Jem and he watched the two of them discourse animatedly over their favorite books. Jem's silver hair gleamed under the dim lighting. Magnus noticed Tessa would every so often sneak a glance at it. She did it very discreetly, but Magnus knew, because he'd known Tess for ages.

"So you're trying to hook Tessa up with someone?" Will asked, dragging Magnus out of his bubble.

"I'm trying to introduce two people with similar interests to each other and see what happens," Magnus replied, taking a long , savory sip from his fruity cocktail drink.

"Smooth , Bane, smooth," William commented before directing his attention elsewhere. Magnus watched as Will's brow knitted together and his mouth formed a worrisome line. He looked like he wanted desperately to say something, but then at the last minute decided to hold it in, which in William's case was highly unusual. He was blunt before all things. "Whatever you think will make her happy," Will finally said, not slurring a bit and taking a swig of his alcohol infused drink.

"Okay," Magnus said, not really knowing how to reply to Will's change in demeanor. All of a sudden his head had cleared and even though he was still drunk as a skunk, Magnus could see tiny gears moving in his brains, thinking without a break. "You alright?"

"Oh yeah, I feel…Amazing," Will said, his eyes training the back wall. "Superb one could say."

"You sure?" Magnus asked, holding Will's intense stare for more than an awkward period. Staring into Will's eyes was always an adventure. They were so deep and dark blue, kind of like the depths of an Ocean. You could never know what you would find in them, but you always ended up finding something. More than often that something would leave you with an unsettling feeling in the pit of your stomach. Still you'd want to look again, because solving the mystery of William Herondale was an irresistible quest that would, highly likely, drive you insane.

Being caught in thought, Magnus didn't notice the corners of Will's mouth tugging upwards. "Does your eyeliner have extra glitter?"

Magnus was ripped out of his thoughts and ever so subtly distracted by two of his favorite things; glitter and eyeliner. "Yes it does, I can't believe you noticed."

"I have my moments," Will stated and put down his empty glass. Camille had slipped into the powder room, giving Will the opportunity to slide off the booth seat.

"Are you leaving?" Magnus questioned.

"Yep, I'm just not feeling this tonight," Will said, pulling his Gray woollen jacket on. "Besides I'm working tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll see you around." Magnus tapped Tessa's arm to inform her that Will was leaving, but when he got her attention he noticed that Will had already made his way out into the snowy night.

"What is it, Magnus?" Tessa turned around to face Magnus. Her eyes shone, as much as Gray eyes could shine in the first place.

"Will left," Magnus said, feeling more than odd. In a span of fifteen minutes the atmosphere had changed from friendly banter to tense.

"William left?" Tessa exclaimed. "Why?"

"I don't know. He said he wasn't feeling it tonight?"

"That's absurd. Will is always feeling _it_," Tessa said, looking towards the exit. "Whatever_ it _is."

"Is everything alright?" Jem asked, following Tessa's gaze towards the exit.

"No, I mean I don't know. Will just left," Tessa said, locking eyes with Jem.

"That's too bad. He seemed like a really interesting guy. I would have liked to talk to him a bit more."

"Well, you best not worry about William or you'll end up in a mental institution before you're thirty," Magnus stated.

"You're worried about him too," Tessa said, leaning onto the table calling Magnus' bluff.

"Yes, and I have a mental break down scheduled for January," Magnus said, letting a bubble of laugh color his words.

"That sounds worrisome," Jem stated, his silver hair falling in front of his eyes, making them look darker than they really were.

"So much worrying to do and so little time," Tessa sighed, making both of the men laugh in unison.

Eventually Camille came back from the washroom with a new coat of mascara and lip gloss on. She sat down and ordered a round of shots for everyone. Needless to say after that and a couple more the night was swallowed by a blur of jazz music and lights, laughter and alcohol.

As the clock approached midnight, Magnus stumbled home in the middle of falling snow and glistening Christmas lights illuminating the darkness. He had his headphones on and nearly got run over by a car twice. Nevertheless, he made it home safely, until it came time to tackle the stairs leading up to his bedroom. Those fruity drinks and shots had really kicked in after a while. Everything was delightfully blurry and soft. The snowflakes had looked so beautiful falling down from the pitch dark sky. He had marvelled at them for a good ten minutes before going inside. And the streetlights, oh the streetlights had shined their yellow light, making the streets look like they were paved with glistening gold. Everything was better this way, nothing was quite clear and nothing made sense, but at the same time it all made perfect sense.

These damn stairs were ruining everything.

"Okay feet," Magnus said, "Let's work together now. One foot up, the other forward, and up and forward," he kept talking himself through the act of going up the stairs until he reached the top. "Well done legs!" After praising his legs for doing a mediocre job, he stumbled in the dark, going for his bed. When he reached the edge of the bed, he simply slipped under the covers and pushed his shoes off, dropping them onto the floor. The thud they made as they hit the hardwood floor made Magnus squeeze his eyes shut. He lay there in complete silence, not even his clock was ticking, probably due to the fact that he hadn't changed the battery since he bought the thing.

"I like you clock, because you're quiet," Magnus whispered. His head felt heavy and his eyelids closed, yet falling asleep seemed unlikely. Too many things ran through his mind, thoughts tangling and changing at the speed of light. Will's blue eyes seemed to be tattooed to his eyelids. They wanted him to jump into the dark, drawing him one step closer to the abyss of dangerous thoughts. Magnus pulled his blanket closer up to his chin and blinked a couple times. He couldn't really make out anything specific in his room. Even the bright red numbers on his alarm clock screen looked like a big red blur.

He felt like he needed a smoke, but didn't get up to light one. Not because he knew it was bad for him, which he indeed did know, but because he was too tired to move. Trying to live a happy life really took a toll on him. Pushing memories and issues deep into nooks in his brain was hard and messy work. Trying to forget them with the help of alcohol worked for about…twenty-four hours at the most. And even after that, the next morning knowing what he was doing wasn't good for him in any way, made him feel guilty. He caught himself red handed and there was no denying that, which again made him very, very tired. And no one knew. He really did do a good job pretending to have it all. In a way, he did have a lot, just not what he wanted. And maybe not knowing what he really wanted was a big part of the problem, but how was he supposed to know what he wanted when couldn't even begin to think of happiness as a real aspect of his life.

Now that he had allowed himself to venture the much visited darker side of his mind, Magnus felt like lying in his bed forever. It was always really hard to pick yourself up after a trip to the dark side. He'd probably have to call in sick for tomorrow night. The idea of sleeping through the next day seemed enticing, but something stringed him on, hope maybe, it made him want to conquer all and shine. Too bad he always had to hit rock bottom in his mind before it decided to show up. Taking a deep breath, Magnus decided he needed to buy a big lock and put it on the doors to his darkest thoughts. Then he'd throw the key away, preferably in the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Or William's eyes, they were both deep enough. And they both had monsters scary enough to keep people away; so that there was no way in hell anyone would find that goddamned key. Yes, that was what Magnus would do. With the solid decision made in his mind, he finally found himself able to drift into sleep. Beautiful blurry sleep.

**AN: Alrighty, so I am aware that Magnus is kinda gloomy right now, but there's a reason for it all. He's kind of hitting a mental rock bottom right now, but it will get better. It will. So please let me know what you thought of this chapter. What did you think of Will, Tessa, Camille? Just tell me anything that came to mind while reading, because honestly reviews are like cuddling up to Magnus! I think...**

**Love Always, Alexandra!**

**Ps. First Malec interaction coming up next chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Hi guys! I'm so sorry this chapter took forever to write. I've been really sick and well, writing just didn't seem as appealing as sleeping at that point. Anyhow, it's all done now and ready for you to read. So here you go, I hope you enjoy!**

Cruel Reflections

All characters belong to Cassandra Clare

Alec's point of view

Chapter 6.

It was a crispy December morning in St. Clare's. The wind had settled down and the temperature was a low minus twenty degrees. Alec had a day off from both school and work. He decided to take advantage of all that spare time and do some Christmas shopping. Alec pulled a brown sweater from his chest of drawers and paired it with a simple pair of jeans. He put on woollen socks, since he wished to keep all his toes intact. He brushed a comb through his black hair and marvelled at how Izzy's cherry chapstick had worked its magic. He grabbed his backpack and his I-pod from his room and jumped down the stairs.

Everyone was present for breakfast. Izzy sat at the table with her long hair in a messy bun, wearing her blood red pajamas. Maryse was packing up her cake for the bake sale and Robert sat at the head of the table once again absorbed in reading his newspaper. Alec could only imagine the St. Clare daily wasn't full of mind blowing articles. Maybe it was just his way of avoiding actually having to talk to his family. Anyhow, Alec sat down next to Izzy and poured himself a glass of apple juice. He would get his coffee later from a spectacular little Café downtown. After buttering his toast he gulped down his entire breakfast and took his dished to the sink.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" Izzy asked, taking a bite of her bagel. She gave Alec a curious look and swallowed. "It's barely noon on a Saturday."

"Well unlike you," Maryse budded in, "Your brother has the decency to get up before it's noon and not waste half of the day."

Izzy rolled her eyes at her mother. Alec smirked as Maryse too rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"I'm going Christmas shopping."

"Ooh, Good. Do you know what you're gonna get me yet?" Izzy squealed and perked up fast enough.

"No, I have no idea," Alec answered honestly. He walked into the hallway, grabbed his jacket and did the buttons up. "I'm gonna go now mom!"

"Okay dear, have a good time, drive safely," Maryse called from the kitchen. Izzy padded her way to the hallway and leaned against the doorframe. She locked eyes with Alec and mouthed the words 'Victoria's Secret'. Alec felt a blush rise to his cheeks and muttered something incoherent under his breath.

"I just want body spray," Izzy called after her brother as he trotted into their snowy front yard. Alec quickly disappeared into his car and drove off. He was in a hurry, mostly to get his Christmas shopping started, but also to get some coffee. After all coffee was a main ingredient to a successful life.

Alec parked his car onto a side street, locked the doors and scurried inside a red brick building. As soon as he opened the door to the corner coffee shop, no kidding it was actually called "The Corner", he felt the scent of coffee and pastries invade his senses. He smiled to himself as he walked to the cashier.

"Good morning," the barista chimed and smiled widely. Alec knew him from school, but not by name. He must have been in his history class back last year…or maybe it was maths? Anyhow, Alec tried to peer at his name tag just in case the subject would come up. "What can I get you?"

Alec snapped out of his thoughts and stared blankly at the barista, who still wore a friendly smile.

"Um I…" Alec muttered. He had been going to this café since he could remember and in doing that included certain perks, like for instance having all the employees know your regular drink. He realized he hadn't actually given his order to a barista in...two years?

"He would like a latte with honey and extra cinnamon on top. Make it large," Charlotte, the store manager said as she hurried out of the bakery. The Corner made all its pastries on site and Charlotte was the baker extraordinaire.

"Thanks, Char," Alec mumbled.

"No problem, but you should probably remember your order in the future, since Jordan here is a new employee and we're hiring since most of our employees are moving to bigger cities. Can you believe that? Who would even want to leave St. Clare?" Charlotte wondered as she put down a tray of freshly baked brownies. Alec wasn't sure if the tint of sarcasm he thought he heard in Charlotte's voice was actually there or if he'd just imagined it, because he was biased.

"Yeah," Alec laughed awkwardly, "Who would ever wanna leave St. Clare…"

"Here's your coffee," Jordan said and handed Alec the steaming cup of Latte. It's four eighty."

"That I remember," Alec said and dug his pocket for coins. He dropped a random amount of coins onto the counter noticing Jordan shaking his head at him. Jordan patiently picked out the right amount of money and pushed the rest back to Alec.

"Perfect, would you like a receipt?"

"No thank you," Alec said and waved a goodbye. He sat by the window and took a sip from his drink, relishing as the caffeine poured into his system. He took a deep satisfied breath and let his head roll back for a second before opening his eyes and concentrating on the real world again. He took out his phone and was about to look at his Christmas shopping list but then stopped. The I.F.R.I.E.N.D.S. icon looked so tempting. For some reason he was intrigued by Violin-boy, but didn't really know what he should say or do next. It was a rather crippling feeling. Wanting something that you weren't even sure you wanted or not even knowing what you wanted was took a lot of energy and brain capacity. He pressed the icon and opened up his conversation with Violin-boy19.

Peaches: Hey. How are you?

Alec put the phone down waiting for a response. He took another sip of his latte, looked out of the window. Even though it was a Saturday morning people were out and about. Probably doing their Christmas shopping like Alec was or just running errands. The Corner was located downtown. It was Alec's favorite part of St. Clare. It had an old time feel to it with its wooden walkways and beautiful lamp posts and old wooden buildings mixed with red brick. Really it was like from another time, but it still had all the perks of modern life. Alec would have to drive to the mall to go shopping for gifts though. Most of the shops downtown were a bit out of his league either being way too expensive or just intimidating. Checking his phone Alec sighed as he noticed there was no reply. Perhaps he was a bit hasty. He should wait a bit longer. Yes, that he should do. Alec took another sip of his latte and let his fingers bounce on the table surface.

Magnus' point of view

Magnus groaned before he dared to open his eyes. His head felt heavy and breathing seemed like hard work. Top that with a wild craving for pizza and it pretty much summed up Magnus' current state of mind.

"Oh man," Magnus croaked as he turned over to his back and warily opened his eyes. Blinking a couple of times he got used to the bright light filtering into his bedroom. "Okay, maybe I can work with this."

It was twelve o'clock on a Saturday. Magnus wasn't working today so he was free to sleep all day. For some reason the idea didn't seem so appealing. Mostly it just made him feel depressed. A familiar bleep caught Magnus' attention. He rolled over to his side and felt for his phone on his bed side table. Grabbing it he slid the lock open and scrunched his eyebrows. "What is this…" He muttered confusedly looking at his phone screen. Apparently he'd changed his wallpaper into an arrangement of white roses. He sure hoped the idea behind that move would come back to him. It had to be deeper than just some pretty flowers. Anyhow, he was confident he'd understand it later.

"A message," Magnus said and clicked the blinking icon. "Let's see…Peaches? Oh man, how drunk did I get last night."

Peaches: Hey. How are you?

"Please don't be a stripper, please don't be a stripper…" Magnus muttered. "How could Tessa let me do something like this…"

Violin-boy19: Feeling hung over and regretful. It may be best if we just don't talk. Ever again. You know, for decency's sake.

"Violin-boy19?"Magnus wondered to himself. "I need to stop drinking." He rolled himself out of bed and walked straight into the washroom and turned on the shower. He stepped under the hot water and began scrubbing off last night's make-up. He really ought to have washed it off last night. Getting eyeliner on was hard, but getting it off after a night of tossing and turning was even harder. Eventually Magnus emerged from the shower feeling fresher than a car refresher commercial. After spending all that time scrubbing off his make-up it seemed a bit ironic putting on more, but Magnus was craving pizza and he was not going to leave the house looking dead, as for having it delivered over…Well last time he had something delivered over it ended rather…interestingly, with him and said delivery person rolling around trying to devour each other. No need to get in details.

After a light touch of peach lip gloss Magnus picked out a light pastel purple button up shirt and some black jeans to wear. He cuddled himself in a black quilted jacket and wrapped a long rainbow colored scarf around his neck, in a stylish way of course. Kind of casual but still considered. He stuffed his phone in his jacket and hurried downstairs and out of the door.

The cold air hit his freshly washed face with a pleasant zap to it. It was electrifying and let him breathe in the fresh air and truly feel it invade his lungs that had suffered over the years of excessive abuse of tobacco products. Feeling the renewed surge of energy run through him, Magnus made good time walking to his favorite pizza place. Stepping inside and hearing the bell at the door ring as it closed behind him made his stomach churn. He hadn't even realized how hungry he'd actually been.

"Hi, what can I get you?" The guy at the cashier asked.

"One large pepperoni," Magnus said, browsing through the selection of foods offered even though he knew every item on the list by heart, "…And a garlic dip, please."

"Sure thing, It'll be done in about ten minutes if you just want to sit and wait," the guy said and placed the order forward. Magnus nodded politely and walked over to the wooden tables overlooked by colorful glass lamps. He sat opposite of a house plant that looked like someone really ought to water it. Magnus smiled at it and relaxed in his seat. Surely enough relaxation was not a perk he got to enjoy for a very long time, because a buzz from the phone in his pocket brought him out of his relaxed state. He quickly looked the phone over and noticed another message from Peaches. "Oh for the love of God," he muttered, feeling inconvenienced.

Peaches: I don't understand. I thought we were friends? You're the one who started to talk to me in the first place.

Magnus could practically feel his face forming a huge question mark as he read the message a couple times more.

Violin-boy19: Listen, I'm sorry if I've given you the wrong idea or something, but I'm not really looking to expand my circle of friends right now.

Yes, that sounded polite enough. He really needed to call Tessa and ask her about this whole ordeal though. This poor girl thought they were friends. And Magnus was pretty sure he hadn't made any new friends, hell even acquaintances, last night.

Peaches: Then why are you using this APP in the first place? I thought the whole idea was to make new friends.

Again Magnus stared at the screen with complete confusion. He blinked a couple times as an image of him and William at the beach came to his mind. That had been his Wallpaper for his phone ever since the picture was taken. He wouldn't have changed it for an arrangement of roses. No way. He opened the phone and went to look through the contacts. None of them rang a bell. He then checked the pictures. There were only a few and certainly weren't his. "Fuck," he hissed under his breath. "Whose phone is this?" He continued scrolling through the contacts and eventually found his own name listed under M. He pressed dial and waited for the ringing sound. After a few beeps someone answered with a tired hello.

"Hello, this is Magnus Bane. Who are you and why do you have my phone?" His voice was poised but demanding; it was his 'getting things done' voice.

"Magnus?" The tired voice croaked. "It's me, Jem. Is this your phone?"

"Yes, a white I-phone," Magnus clarified.

"It looks just like mine," Jem said after he'd apparently checked it.

"I guess we must have swapped them last night. Another bright idea I assume," Magnus said, tapping his fingers on the table.

"It must have been an accident," Jem said, yawning.

"Could I come pick mine up?" Magnus asked. After a while of silence Magnus decided to add, "I'll bring pizza."

At that Jem laughed and agreed in concordance. "I'll text you, I mean me, the address. Are you coming by now?"

"As soon as the pizza is ready," Magnus replied.

"Alright, I'll see you then. I got to get dressed and out of my pajama," Jem said, sounding a bit exhausted.

"That's fine. I don't mind pajamas," Magnus stated and smirked to himself.

"Okay, maybe I'll take you up on that offer, see you in a bit," Jem said again, clearly ready to end the conversation.

"Oh wait!" Magnus exclaimed. "We need to talk about Peaches. I got a message from her and I think I screwed up." Silence fell on the line and Magnus felt his heart sink. He hoped Jem wouldn't be mad. He didn't mean to ruin anything, it had been an honest mistake. Surely when Jem explained it to this peaches person they'd get it too. After the silence grew louder Magnus decided to clarify the situation. "I thought she was a stripper. And said we shouldn't talk anymore."

At that he heard Jem laugh in response. "Firstly, it's not a she it's a he. And I'm pretty sure he's not a stripper, although one can never be sure. And don't worry about ruining anything. Just come over and we'll talk."

"Okay, sounds like a plan," Magnus said and hung up, just in time too apparently. An employee walked up to him and handed over his pizza and dip. "Here you go, sir. Have a good day."

"I already am," said Magnus and held the pizza close. He could smell the grease and cheese and all kinds of wonderful, marvellous things in that box. He checked Jem's phone and saw that he'd texted his address and it wasn't that far away either. Magnus decided to take the streetcar. As he walked to the stop, letting the heat of the pizza further warm him, he couldn't help smiling to himself… Peaches, what a peculiar choice of name. He'd love to hear the story behind that. He bet it was a good one. He just hoped he hadn't botched it for Jem and this Peaches figure. If he had he'd like to make it up somehow, he just wasn't quite sure how you made up for something like that. Once again his mind was racing ahead of things. Jem had told him not to worry. And that's what he should do. With force, he pushed all worrisome thoughts out of his mind and just concentrated on making his way to Jem's…And eating the pizza of course.

**AN: So what did you think? Did you like the whole phone swap idea? How do you think it'll progress? If you have any thoughts at all, please leave a review letting me know what you think. You know what to do.**

**Love Always, Alexandra!**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Hi guys! First I want to start off by saying thanks for all the follows, faves and reviews! Next I want to say that this chapter is the longest one I've written so far for this story, but I personally think it's worth reading...major things happening here. And third, as always, I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

Cruel reflections

All characters belong to Cassandra Clare; I just like to play with them

Magnus' point of view

Chapter 7

Magnus wiped his hands on a paper towel Jem handed him. "Thanks."

"No, thank you for the food," Jem said, smiling brightly and took a seat on the couch opposite the one Magnus was sprawled across. Jem's apartment was on the border of suburbia and urban life. The feel inside was certainly matched by location, location, location. The ceiling was high and high windows let in beautiful natural light. He had two brown leather couches dominating the living room, which was lined with shelves of books and papers. He had a lot of plants and flowers perking up the place here and there. Magnus had nearly knocked over a beautiful orchid dangling on the washroom sink.

"So, I like the picture of you and William on your phone," Jem said, cleaning up his plate and picking up Magnus' plate too.

"Thank you," Magnus said, letting a smile spread on his full lips, remembering that hot summer day at the beach. William had been so unusually insightful and open. It happened once in a blue moon, but when it did it was beautiful.

"I got a strange feeling from him yesterday. He didn't seem very pleased with me hogging up Tessa's attention. Do you know if he's interested in her?"

"Huh?" Magnus snapped his head to face Jem. "Will and Tessa?" Magnus laughed. "That's an interesting, but very twisted thought."

"You haven't noticed the way he looks at her," Jem said, looking down at his hands. "And here I thought you were insightful."

"I am!" Magnus exclaimed, quick to defend the compliment Jem had earlier placed upon him. "It's just…William and Tessa?" His face must have let Jem know how he felt about the subject because Jem chuckled at him and shook his head.

"Well, perhaps it will all unravel in front of you like a great epiphany," Jem said, finalizing the conversation. Magnus gave a hazardous nod of agreement and turned to his side on the couch. It was such a comfortable couch and Jem had made him feel so at home he could practically fall asleep right then and there even he wasn't tired.

"You know Jem, I'm going to rudely change the subject, because I just can't keep my curiosity in check," Magnus began.

"What is on your mind?" Jem asked, the knowing smile on his face letting Magnus know he probably already knew what Magnus was going to ask him.

"Peaches, you know, I've always liked peaches…so sweet and tasty. You don't happen to like peaches, do you?"

"What are you implying?"

"I'm not implying anything, just babbling. But just to make sure. Won't you tell me about Peaches?"

Jem looked thoughtful. "What's there to tell?"

"Um…How about everything and anything that comes to mind. Spill, please," Magnus said, sitting up and leaning in to listen keenly.

"Well," Jem started and raked his long refined violinist fingers through his silver hair. "I started talking to him on this new APP I got. We've only talked twice, but he seems very nice and we're playing a question game. So far I know he goes to school and likes reading so much he can't pick out his favorite book." Jem seemed lost in thought for a while before adding, "And he likes peaches of course."

Magnus felt laughter bubble up in his chest before he let it out in a burst. "You say? He likes peaches? I never would have guessed."

"Laugh all you want, but I thought it was worth knowing," Jem said and laced his fingers. "He's very reserved. Like me."

"Yeah," Magnus said, letting the conversation stay still for a while. He took in a deep breath and looked at Jem who was staring at him curiously. The afternoon sunlight seeping in through the window shined behind him, making it look like there was a halo around him.

"He intrigued you," Jem said, not as a question but as a statement.

Magnus shook his head and bit on a nail. "I don't know. There was definitely something…" He shook his head again. "He barely said two words to me."

"I know, but sometimes that's all it takes to peak one's interests."

"Would it be totally stalkerish of me to friend him on…What's the APP you're using again?"

"No," Jem said laughing, "I think you might as well apologize to him and explain your harsh words to him."

"Good idea," Magnus said and perked up. "Help me make a profile, will you?"

"Of course, it's the least I can do after you brought me that delicious pizza."

"You know, food means love," Magnus said and nodded his head, seemingly seriously and walked right up to Jem and slouched on the couch next to him.

"Well… That's confusing."

**Alec's point of view**

Alec bit into his lip furiously. He'd been through Walmart's kitchen aisle and used his employee discount to buy his mother several baking supplies. He's picked out a documentary out for his father too. Now he roamed the mall seriously irritated and confused. Violin boy had completely shaken him off as a mistake. He was so confused, they were doing so well and now he didn't want to speak to Alec anymore…It didn't make any sense. Then again what in this world did anymore? Alec had wondered up to Victoria's secret and sighed heavily. He really had no idea what to get Izzy so he ended up awkwardly trotting inside. The store was so colorful and full of products Alec had no idea what they were. He was completely overwhelmed and was sure people were staring at him.

"Can I help you, sir?" A middle aged woman wearing black and a pink bow on her head asked him. Her tone indicated that she might as well have been saying "You look completely lost."

"Um, yeah…" Alec muttered and shoved his hands in his jacket pockets. "I-I'm looking for a body spray for my sister. She said she wanted one for Christmas and I'm out of ideas so…"

"Okay," The lady said, the corners of her mouth tugging up a bit as she looked Alec up and down. "The body sprays are right back here," She said and beckoned for Alec to follow her, which he gingerly did.

She brought him to glass shelves lit with led lights, they were full of bottles of all color and size with ridiculous names like 'Wild at heart' and 'Secret crush'. How could something _smell_ like a crush?

"Oh, there's a lot of them," Alec stated, looking the shelves trough.

"Yes," The lady said, "What's your sister like, maybe I can help you pick something out for her?"

"Oh, yeah. Well Isabelle is well…reckless, insubordinate, fun loving…but really has a golden heart even if she's always getting into trouble."

The lady thought for a while and then picked out a light pink bottle labeled "Strawberries & Champaign" and handed it to Alec. "Try it out," she said squirting it into the air.

Alec coughed a bit and then got used to the sweet smell invading his lungs. "Yeah it's pretty good. Smells like something she'd use."

"Well, it's fourteen dollars if you choose to take it."

Alec thought about it for a second and then decided to get the spray. "I'll take it."

"Perfect, let's get you out of here then," the lady said and smiled kindly at Alec.

"Oh you noticed," Alec laughed.

"That you're completely out of place here. Yes, it was the mumbling and standing around like a lost puppy that gave you away."

"Yeah," Alec sighed and paid for the body spray. "Thank you."

"Just doing my job." The lady handed him the bag and wished for him to have a good day. Alec made his way out of the store as fast as he could. He stuffed the shopping bag into his carrier bag and tried to rid of the smell sticking to his clothes. All those perfumes and sprays mixed together left a pungent smell behind, a kind of hazardous mixture strong enough to put a horse down. Alec felt kind of bad for the people working at the store, but he figured eventually people would get used to that kind of smell, just like eventually people would get used to anything.

Well now he only had to figure out what to get Jace and he would be relatively done with Christmas shopping. He should be happy, but all he could really think of, besides the fact that he'd just had a successful shopping experience as Victoria's secret, was that Violin boy didn't want to talk to him anymore. So maybe they'd only spoken twice, but Alec had gotten really excited about it. Jace had been right, what a shocker, that Alec definitely wanted to expand his circle of friends even if Violin boy suddenly didn't. Now he'd have to start the ordeal all over again. Because, how likely would it be for someone to suddenly add him again…

A buzz in his pocket drew him out of the blue mood he'd been dwelling in. He took out his phone and felt a jolt of excitement run through him as he saw the i.F.R.I.E.N.D.S icon flashing on his the screen. He bit his lip to stop him from opening it immediately. What could it be? Was it Violin boy apologizing or just further driving his point home? Really it could go any which way. But if he was apologizing, did Alec really want to talk this person again? Questions and more questions, the only way he'd ever figure anything out was by reading the Goddamn message. With a shaky breath Alec opened the APP and clicked on the icon.

"What?" Alec gasped and squinted his eyes to make sure they weren't betraying him.

_GlitteryKitty wants to start a chat with you, would you like to accept?_

Alec blinked a couple times and looked around him. What the hell, who the hell was GlitteryKitty? What kind of name was that anyway? Ok so maybe he didn't have the right to judge when it came to names, but GlitteryKitty certainly rivaled with Peaches on the strange scale. This certainly wasn't anything he was expecting so before he could change his mind he clicked accept and hoped for the best. That seemed to be the theme of the day, to just guess, go with the flow and hope you didn't completely fuck things up. Sighing deeply, letting his body relax, Alec decided it was time to go home.

By the time he parked his car in the drive way it was dinner time. He could see the lights were on downstairs and frankly was hoping that he could just walk in and sit down to eat. He took out his shopping bags from the back seat and tried to hide them behind his back. He walked up the porch steps and opened the front door. "Mom! I'm home," he called out.

"Oh good, just in time for dinner," Maryse called back and peaked out of the kitchen door. She was wearing a blue button up shirt and casual jeans. Her hair was pinned up, just a few dark curls escaping and framing her face. She looked beautiful in all her mundane glory. And somehow all that made Alec feel really glad to be home. Even if he sometimes or most of the times wanted to get as far as possible from his house and family, there was no denying that the sensation of walking into your childhood home was comforting.

"I'll be right there. I just need to take this stuff upstairs," Alec said and awkwardly jiggled the shopping bags behind his back.

"Oh," Maryse said and let a happy smile spread on her lips. "Did you get something for me?"

"Mom," Alec whined. "I can't tell you that. It would ruin the whole surprise."

"Alright, alright," Maryse sighed, waving the topic off. "Just hurry, we're all around the table already. I made spaghetti and baked some fresh bread. It should taste sublime."

"I'm sure it will," Alec said and shot a smile at Maryse. She disappeared back into the kitchen, looking faintly proud of herself. Alec hopped up stairs as quickly as he could and stashed his shopping bags under his bed. Just as he was about to make his way downstairs his phone buzzed again. Alec pulled it out of his pocket and curiously looked at the screen. It was a message from GlitteryKitty. He really didn't know what to expect so he just opened it up and read.

GlitteryKitty_: So hi, I'm GlitteryKitty. I'm Violin boy's friend and I'm the one who you were messaging with this morning. You see, we accidentally got our phones mixed up (blasted white I Phones) and in my hangover haze I thought I'd done something incredibly reckless like for instance…oh I don't know…befriended a stripper named Peaches. So as I'm sure you'll understand, there was a reason to my rashness this morning. Don't be mad at Violin boy, please, he's really a sweet heart…a sweet heart with questionable friends. Anyhow, I was hoping you'd let me make my rudeness up and be willing to talk to me for a bit. That's all. Over and out._

Alec felt the corners of his mouth tug up. He was trying not to smile like an idiot, but was failing miserably. He had to admit GlitteryKitty's explanation was a rational one. Anyone could get an I phone mixed up, plus he did apologize and seemed to be willing to try make up for his rashness. And most importantly, something about the way he'd written that message…was intriguing at the least. Or you know, maybe he wasn't a boy, maybe he was a girl. He knew nothing about this person, yet there was something enticing about the whole situation. Honestly Alec was clueless. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. Should he act based on his instincts? Then again what exactly were his instincts telling him? Should he be rational? Or did that ship sail a long time ago. Then a singular thought popped into Alec's head. Something GlitteryKitty had said earlier this morning. Alec smiled crookedly as he typed in his next message.

Peaches: _Why, I thought you weren't looking to expand your circle of friends._

Alec shoved his phone back into his pocket and made his way down to the kitchen with a satisfied smile on his face. Something about being cheeky just suited him and he didn't get to be that way too often, which was a shame.

As he sat down to eat dinner he could feel the tension in the atmosphere. He curiously gazed at the three people sitting around him. Maryse sat opposite of him, wearing a tight smile, looking like she was using every ounce of energy she had left to keep it on her lips. Robert looked annoyed. He held his fork between his fingers and twirled it around. Isabelle however, she just looked miserable all together. Mostly her expression said that she would like to hurt people and that anyone getting in her way would be eliminated. His sister was sweet that way. But then again Alec knew her better. That purely malicious look on her face was most likely a façade designed to keep her true emotions at bay. She gave Alec a sideways glance as he sat down, which Alec replied to with a meek smile.

"Good, you're here darling, let's start eating," Maryse said and offered Alec some buttered bread, which by the way smelled amazing. The look in her eyes said 'help me get through this dinner and I'll bribe you with caffeine products'. Alec knew that look relatively well. There were certain things you just didn't bring up at dinner in the Lightwood house. However, apparently those things were freely brought up just before dinner, making the dinner itself rather horrid.

All four of them dug into their meals and ate in silence for a while. Izzy kept glancing at the clock and taking tiny bites out of her bread. She didn't even touch the spaghetti, which was a shame because Alec thought it really did taste sublime. After fifteen minutes Izzy finally opened her mouth. "I'm not hungry, may I please be excused?"

Before Maryse could even answer Robert slammed his cutlery down on the table and gave Izzy his darkest death glare. "No, you may not be excused. Eat your dinner."

"I said, I'm not hungry," Izzy replied, staring her father right back with an equally icy glare.

"And I'm saying you're not leaving this table before you finish your plate," Robert stated and seemingly finished the conversation.

"That's ridiculous. You can't force me to eat. I'm not five years old anymore!" Izzy exclaimed. Her voice rose dangerously high. Alec watched her clench her fists into tiny balls at her sides.

"Honey, just eat a little bit," Maryse tried. Her smile wavered a bit, but her tone seemed sweet enough to make Alec feel like she wasn't really very upset with Isabelle, it was more of a worried tone.

"I told you, I'm not hungry," Izzy repeated and dropped her fork on the table.

This didn't go down very well with Robert. Alec saw him sigh deeply and immediately wanted to leave the table. The thing about Robert Lightwood was that he could have probably used some anger management classes if spoken honestly. He was a great guy in a lot of aspects, but patience was not one of his virtues and Izzy had obviously tested that patience earlier and was pushing it to a breaking point.

"Isabelle, I'm warning you. God forbid you don't sit your ass down and eat you dinner-"

"What? What are you gonna do? Ground me? Take my phone and computer away? Oh yeah, that's not gonna work since you already did that," Izzy slammed her palms onto the table making Maryse jump.

"I am so fucking done with you people. All you care about is what others think about you," Izzy muttered audibly and got up stomping her way to her room.

"That's it. That girl is out of line," Robert said and got up ready to follow her upstairs. Maryse then decided this was the time to interject and got up. She stopped her husband by putting her palm against his chest.

"Maryse, what are you doing?"

"I'm telling you to pick your battles, Robert. Yelling at her isn't going to get you anywhere. Not now, not when she's like this," Maryse said, very calmly stating her case. "Just drop it for now."

"Whats going on?" Alec asked, watching his parents standing awkwardly in the middle of the kitchen.

"Nothing," they replied in unison, which made the hairs on Alec's back stand.

"It sure doesn't sound like nothing," Alec mumbled under his breath.

"Just leave it, you too, Alec. I'm serious," Maryse pleaded and looked back and forth between Robert and Alec. The Mundane beauty Alec had noticed in Maryse before had begun to fade and turn into tight lines all around her face.

"Fine," Robert hissed between his teeth. "But this is not the end of this. You always let her get away with everything." With that Robert left the room and much like Isabelle, he stomped away only not to his room but to the back yard. He slammed the door behind him and made Maryse jump again.

"Are you okay mom?" Alec asked quietly, not wanting to startle her. Maryse looked up at him and forced a smile on her lips again. "I'm alright dear. He's just…upset. Your sister really did it this time." Shaking her head she walked over to the table. "We might as well clear it. I think dinner is over. Would you help me?"

Alec hesitated for a minute. He wanted to go upstairs and check on his sister, but didn't dare upset Maryse any further. He decided to help his mother but to do it as fast as possible. He quickly gathered all the plates, cutlery and glasses into one big dangerously reeling pile and hauled it into the sink. Maryse took care of the food, packing it up into the fridge. Alec then wiped the table off very half-heartedly. As soon as he was done he asked permission to leave. Maryse nodded and leaned against the counter. She took a deep breath and let her head drop down. Alec once again hesitated and lingered at the bottom of the stairs. "Alexander, I'm fine. I know you're dying to talk to your sister so just go."

Alec blushed and muttered something incoherent making his way upstairs. He sighed as he reached Izzy's door. He knocked hesitantly and waited for an answer that never came. "Izzy?" He called out. When no answer came he carefully opened the door. The lights were closed, but he could see a sliver of light coming through the bathroom door. He quietly made his way to the door and knocked again. "Izzy, are you okay?"

"Go away, Alec," Izzy croaked. Shit, Alec thought. He could hear it in her voice that she had been crying. Apparently his assessment earlier had been correct. She wasn't really as mad as she was sad.

"Can I come in, please," Alec begged and leaned against the door.

"No," Izzy yelled again.

"Please, pretty please," Alec proceeded to beg.

"You're not gonna leave me alone are you?" Izzy asked, her voice cracking a bit.

"No, because you're my baby sister and you're obviously upset. I just want to talk to you," Alec stated.

"Fine, come in then."

Sighing with relief this time, Alec pushed the door open and was honestly heart broken by what he saw. His little sister was lying in her bathtub with a blanket and pillow as her comfort. Her eyes were puffed and red from crying and her make-up washed off hastily leaving streaks of black running down her cheeks. Piles of tissues littered the floor. Alec gazed around the room, his stare stopping at his sister's hands, holding onto a… Pregnancy test?

"Izzy, please tell me that's not what I think it is. And if it is, tell me it's negative, please."

Izzy slowly turned her head to face her brother and smiled as widely as she could, a hysteric laugh escaping her lungs. "I don't know yet, I haven't done it yet."

**AN: So...don't hate me for the cliffhanger, yeah, ok? If you have any thoughts on things like Magnus and Alec communicating or Magnus' user name or Alec shopping at Victoria's Secret or you know the big one...Is Izzy pregnant or not and if yes then with who? - Let me know in the reviews. Or if you have any thoughts over all about the chapter they are always wildly appreciated, just like ****Strawberries****and ****Champagne****.**

**Love Always, Alexandra!**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN:Hi guys! Sorry for the long wait for this chapter, it was a bit harder to write than I'd originally thought, but here it is. I'm so excited for you to read it. **

**Enjoy!**

Cruel Reflections

All characters belong to Cassandra Clare; I just like to play with them. There's nothing wrong with that. I think.

Chapter 8

Alec's point of view

The feeling you get when you see your sister, who has always made a point to question God, weather it was just to piss of her parents or just to make a point, bowing down and praising God and experiencing near rapture moments was rather confusing to Alec. Izzy sat at the foot of her bed and looked up at him with her brown eyes still red from crying, though now her frown was replaced with a victorious smile. "Thank you, God, thank you," she said as she wiped tears from her cheeks. "All three of them were negative, thank you God."

"I don't think God had anything to do with that," Alec said blatantly and helped his sister get up and sit next to him on the edge of her bed.

"How are you not happy about this? This means I won't end up on MTV sixteen and pregnant," Izzy exclaimed in a hushed tone. She had decided she wouldn't tell their father yet, apparently she wanted him to squirm for a little while more.

"Well technically you still have six months of being sixteen left," Alec remarked.

"Shut up," Izzy said and slapped his arm. "I don't think I've ever been happier to know I'll be getting my period, my sweet, precious period."

"Oh, okay. I never thought I'd hear you say that," Alec laughed and gave her a true older brother, babying smile. "Izzy, I know you're really happy right now, but you know there are going to be consequences, right?"

"I know, I know. I'll probably be grounded till I'm thirty and…I don't even know what, but I don't care. I'm just so happy, Alec. I mean to have a kid at my age just doesn't feel right to me. And to have a kid with Jonathan Morgen…" Izzy shut her mouth quicker than Alec had ever seen her do and she zipped it into a tight line.

"Jonathan Morgenstern? You slept with Jonathan Morgenstern?" Alec asked, vividly flabbergasted.

Izzy looked like she was truly embarrassed for a while. She looked Alec straight in the eye and bit her lip, tapping her foot on the floor anxiously.

"Jonathan? Morgenstern? He's bad Izzy, like bad with a capital B." Alec ran his hands through his hair and sighed. "Why? You could do so much better, you deserve so much better."

"I don't know. I was in the mood to do something bad and stupid. Jonathan happened to be there and he was…well bad and stupid. Fun, but bad, bad, bad," Izzy said.

"Please tell me you learned from your mistake," Alec pleaded.

"Well," Izzy muttered and gave Alec one of her most innocent looks.

Alec just stared at her in complete shock. "I don't believe this, I mean he's…"

"I know, he's really bad and I'll never ever be with him again. Alec I swear on all my pairs of shoes, I will never touch him again. Even the thought of it now makes me feel so uncomfortable." Izzy put her hand on Alec's shoulder. "I swear, you trust me don't you?"

Alec looked at her face. She looked like she was telling the truth and being completely honest. He always wanted to believe she'd never make any mistakes again, but that's not the way humans worked. "I trust you. But I think the question you need to ask is do you trust you? And I know you'll make mistakes, which I'm sure I'll make too, but just promise me you won't make this particular mistake again. He's bad news Izzy, and I don't want you to get hurt."

The look on Izzy's face was pure relief. "I promise," she said and smiled encouragingly, "you just have to promise you won't stop believing in me even if I fuck up; even if I fuck up really bad."

"I don't think I could ever stop believing in you. You're my baby sister, it's in the big brother code," Alec said and pulled her into a tight hug.

"But guess what," Izzy whispered against Alec's shoulder.

"What?" Alec asked, still not letting go of her.

"I'm not pregnant," Izzy whispered in the most joyful voice he'd ever heard her muster.

"That's correct. Three out of three negative," Alec said and let a little laugh shake his frame. Izzy pulled away and put her hands on her hips, gathering her true essence.

"Well, now the only thing left to do is to decide how long dad gets to suffer and think that his reputation in the neighborhood is gone," she said in a painstakingly plotting tone.

"Why do I have the feeling that you're planning bitter vengeance," Alec sighed and shook his head playfully.

"Well, he said things that can't be taken back, Alec. He deserves to suffer a bit," Izzy stated, very calmly, seemingly analyzing the situation. Alec didn't know exactly what had gone down between his sister and father, but could only expect the worst. Two strong personalities clashing together and then being confined in one house never ended well.

"Just, be careful. That's all," Alec said and bit his lip. "I need to go now, I need to get back to some stuff, but let me know if you need something," Alec said. He got off the bed and headed for the door, but before he left he stopped abruptly. "And Izzy," he began, "About being careful."

"Yeah?" She asked, still looking happier than ever.

"It applies to all…things," Alec finished, leaving the sentence hanging in the air.

"Oh shut up, Alec," Izzy exclaimed and threw a pillow at him. He slipped out of the door before it hit him and chuckled to himself. He really didn't know what else to do. Everything had happened so quickly and well, he wasn't one to judge, but it felt very strange that his baby sister could have been pregnant. She'd done things that could have led to pregnancy. And that he could not process right now. So instead of processing he slumped down on his bed and stared at his ceiling. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately and it kind of worried him. It made him wonder if Izzy, Jace, Violin boy or even Glittery Kitty stared at their ceilings feeling utterly confused as to how they should feel. It would be nice to know he wasn't alone in feeling this way; not happy, but not sad, just kind of existing.

Right on cue he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Surprisingly eagerly he grabbed it and opened the message without hesitation.

Glittery Kitty: _My, oh my. I guess I'll have to take back my words then. I see I've got a lot of work ahead of me._

Alec smiled and then immediately questioned why he'd done so. It was very odd, like his whole day had been. Just a big old hodgepodge of confusion, body sprays and pregnancy scares and last but not least – death stares.

**Magnus' point of view**

As time ticked down to seven o'clock Magnus found himself lying on his couch, eating a bowl of strawberry ice cream and watching Hawaii- Five-0 on TV. Something about hot guys solving crimes in beautiful scenery just appealed to him. "I swear they are making Steve wear tighter pants every season," Magnus muttered to himself as he licked his spoon. His pure admiration was interrupted by a beep from his phone. He dropped his spoon and indolently unlocked the device. His eyes caught the shape of the familiar icon and instantly zeroed in on the message he'd received.

Peaches: _No. I'm sorry. I guess I was being a bit too sassy. I apologize._

Magnus let out a bubbling laugh and let his body relax into the softness of his couch. He pursed his lips and started to type.

Glittery Kitty: _I find it delightfully innocent you think you were being sassy. A bit funny maybe, but honey you've got a lot to learn about sass._

Peaches answered almost immediately, which made Magnus discard his Five-0 marathon, which really was highly unusual.

Peaches: _Well I suppose if I wanted to learn about sass, you'd be the person to ask to tutor me, huh?_

Magnus felt his soft lips tug up into another smile. Luckily he was home alone, so no one would question him smiling like an idiot.

Glittery Kitty: _I'm glad you caught on. I'm available on Saturday mornings and Tuesday afternoons, but I warn you the tuition to Magnus Bane's sass class is very high._

Peaches: _Who is Magnus Bane?_

Magnus blinked a couple of times and then scrunched his eyebrows. Had he just told his name to this person? What was the point of his fabulous username then? Well shit.

Glittery Kitty: _That would be me, my real name. Even my mother wasn't crazy enough to name me Glittery Kitty._

He waited for a while, wondering if his revelation had been too much too soon. Although maybe it was good to start off on first name bases. Then again, Jem had said this guy was rather reserved.

Peaches: _That's a very unusual name. It's pretty._

Peaches: _I mean not that I'm in the place to judge names with the whole peaches thing going on, but_

Peaches: _I'm just saying that it's pretty, cause you know there's Engelbert, I mean he's a fabulous singer but, like maybe Mark or something simpler would have worked better or like Ursula reminds me of the evil witch in Ariel, or was it even a witch, cause I remember it looking like an octopus, but I can't be sure_

Glittery Kitty: _First of all, thank you. Second, I'm afraid I have no idea who Engelbert is. And third, your rambling is adorable. I didn't know you could ramble with text messages._

Peaches: _ I'm sorry. It's kind of a bad habit. I mean I have no idea why I brought up Ursula._

Glittery Kitty: _It's alright; you don't have to apologize for being adorable. Also I believe Ursula was a sea witch and appeared as half octopus half human. My Disney knowledge might not be up to date though._

Peaches: _How can you know I'm adorable? Isn't being adorable hard to convey through texts?_

Glittery Kitty: _I have a gut feeling._

Peaches: _Okay. That's nice. So you're Violin Boy's friend then?_

Glittery Kitty: _Yeah, we're friends. Have you been talking to him for long?_

Peaches: _Not really, only for a couple days. My friend made me get this APP and you guys are the only ones I've talked to so far. I'm not really familiar with these types of scenarios._

Glittery Kitty: _I can understand that. Diving into the limitless and mysterious world of chatting can seem very strange at first. But I think it's a great way to get to know someone, unless of course you end up talking to a serial killer._

Peaches: _ I swear that is exactly what I thought when I got this APP. Not that I think you're a serial killer. You're not, right?_

Glittery Kitty: _That's cute. Like a serial killer would ever confess to you. But if it puts your mind to ease, I am not indeed a serial killer._

Magnus laughed to himself as he typed in his reply. This conversation was getting more and more bizarre by the second. Still, it was mesmerizingly addictive. It was not at all predictable and he liked it. Plopping another scoop of ice cream in his mouth, he waited for Peaches to reply.

Peaches: _I'm not one either. Just thought you'd wanna know. I know that's exactly what a serial killer would say, but you'll just have to trust me on this one._

Glittery Kitty: _Hmm…let's see…I believe you. Yes that is what my gut says._

Peaches: _Good. I've had a tough enough day without having to explain to someone that I'm not a serial killer._

Magnus frowned. Something about hearing that Peaches had had a tough day didn't sit well with him. He lay down on his couch and let his head rest on the soft fabric. It was always like this with him. When he found a person he was interested in or liked, he was one hundred percent in. He didn't do things half way through and certainly wasn't content in only seeing the top layers of people. He thought the greatest thing in life was to really know people; to really look somewhere deep inside their minds and understand what they felt and who they were by just one look. Unfortunately life didn't work that way, so he had to do a little digging. Sometimes he wished that others would do the same with him; look deeper than the surface.

Glittery Kitty: _What's wrong?_

Peaches: _Oh, it's just some stuff with my family…My sister, who is sixteen just had a pregnancy scare and my dad found out and he kind of…well didn't take it well._

That certainly wasn't what Magnus had been expecting…So much for reserved. But even the most reserved people needed to talk to someone. Maybe he could be that someone.

Peaches: _It's just I sometimes feel like I'm the only truly sane one. And I feel like I have to take care of everyone and make them happy, because if I don't, things just kind of fall apart._

Peaches:_ I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pour my soul out to you. We've only just met and here I go spilling all my problems for you to solve._

Glittery Kitty: _That's okay. I can relate to the feeling. Besides, sometimes it's easier to talk to someone new, who has a fresh perspective to things. I'm happy to listen if you need someone to talk to._

Peaches: _Thanks, that kind of means a lot to me. A fair warning though, I have a lot of mixed feelings about my family and some I haven't even sorted out myself yet, so if I say something that you don't want to hear, please tell me._

Glittery Kitty: _I'm a big boy. I can take care of myself; I'll most definitely let you know if you cross a line. But for now, if you need someone to talk to, I'm here._

Magnus surprised himself by so genuinely offering to listen. Maybe he was doing what he wanted to be done to him. It was nice, knowing that someone was there, to listen or to _just be there_. He kept up his appearances with Tessa, Will, Camille, and Ragnor and even with the ever so insightful and sweet Jem. Maybe he could let his walls down a little tiny bit, maybe just knock down a couple of bricks. It felt like a good idea, it made something strange bubble up inside of his chest, a strange feeling he hadn't had in a while.

Peaches: _Good to know. _

Peaches: _And you know, if you want to, you can talk to me too._

Peaches: _But only if you want to. I know it's strange and we've only just started to talk but I just thought that maybe…_

Magnus smiled and let out a breath he'd never noticed he'd been holding. He uncharacteristically bit his lip and closed his eyes, feeling a bit nervous. As much as he wanted to talk, it was hard to open up after stuffing everything deep down into dark little nooks of your mind for so long. It was like standing at the edge of huge gorge, teetering on the edge, not knowing whether you should hold on or let go.

Glittery Kitty: _I'd like that. It's good to know the offer stands._

Glittery Kitty: _Oh and I think we've established that we've only just met. Let's just forget about that and just talk._

Peaches: _Okay, I can try to do that. It's just very hard to talk when I don't know what I should talk about._

Glittery Kitty: _Well, how about in all fairness, you'd tell me your name so that I could stop thinking that I'm talking to a giant peach?_

A while passed without an answer from Peaches. Several different thoughts ran through Magnus' head. Most of them were thoroughly unnerving. He let his eyes wander to the TV screen, but instead of gazing at perfection he just stared into nothingness. Waiting was miserable, and the longer you waited the stranger your thoughts became. So when his phone finally beeped to signal a message, he calmly opened it and slowly let a wide smile spread on his lips. "Alec," he said out loud, "Short for Alexander."

**AN: So what did you think? Were you happy or sad about Izzy? Did you like Magnus' choice of TV shows? And most importantly, what did you think of Malec's interaction?**

**If you have anything at all to say about this chapter, leave a review, because you know, getting reviews is like eating strawberry ice cream with Magnus!**

**Love Always, Alexandra- who is currently obsessed with the Eurovision song contest.**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Hey guys! I decided to finish this chapter before exam week officially starts, so that you won't have to wait so long for the next one. So this chapter is full of cats, banter and washing dishes.**

**Hope you enjoy!**

Cruel Reflections

All characters belong to Cassandra Clare, bless her sweet mind

Magnus' point of view

Chapter 9.

"I cannot believe you dragged me here," William complained as Magnus and he stepped inside from the cold blizzard that had picked up last night. "I might catch a cold."

"If you catch a cold, I'll come take care of you. I'll tuck you into bed and make you hot cocoa…I'll even cuddle with you if you want," Magnus said, playfully nudging Will's side. His dark black hair stuck to his brooding face, it was still wet from the snow.

"Hmm, I don't need you snooping around my house," Will muttered as he swatted some snow off his scarf.

"Okay, well, don't forget I offered," Magnus stated and looked around. He was in a place of joy, a place of sheer miracles and happiness – The pet store.

"Okay then," Will began and clapped his hands together, "Let's find you a rat and get going."

"A cat, not a rat," Magnus said, absentmindedly, looking around. They had walked into a cozy space with light blue walls. The fluorescent lights in the ceiling made the place look bright and glorious. There was pet food, accessories, toys and of course the pets themselves. Magnus had specifically decided to come to this particular pet shop because he'd done some research and found out that this one sold rescued cats. Something about giving a little creature a second chance just made his heart clench in a warm way.

"A rat, a cat, what's the difference," Will said and poked a collar like it was a completely strange concept to him.

"The difference is that one eats the other. Besides, how can you not like being here, this is a place of happiness and fluff and little paws," Magnus chimed and smiled. He had made an effort to look his best. He wanted to welcome the new member of his family in a grand way, so he had gone all out. His hair was in perfect order, pushed back neatly with a pinch of silver glitter. He wore a big warm brown cardigan and blue jeans. He was rocking his eyeliner and working up a positive attitude, there was nothing that could have possibly ruined his mood; not even a brooding William.

"Hello," Magnus said as he approached the lady at the cashier.

"Well, hello. How can I help you?" The lady asked. She wore her brown hair in a messy bun and wore an oversized Christmas tunic. She looked to be in her forties. Her attentive gray eyes studied Magnus carefully as she smiled. For a second, Magnus thought that she could be Tessa in twenty years.

"I called earlier today," Magnus said. "I wanted to get a cat."

"A cat, not a rat," William clarified over his shoulder.

Magnus glanced at him disapprovingly and shook his head. "Yes, a cat. You said I could come by and take a look."

"Oh yes, Mr. Bane was it?" The lady asked and cocked her head to the side, letting stray hair escape her bun. "My name is Amatis, I'll show you to the back where we can take a look at the cuties."

"Can my friend come too?" Magnus asked, following the woman to a door at the back of the room.

"Of course," The lady said and beckoned for them to enter. As soon as he was in through the door he was in heaven. Everywhere he looked, there were little fluffy creatures curiously peering at him. Actually the room was lined with cages and had a big table in the middle. The tiny meows emitted by cats of all sorts made Magnus smile a smile that reached his eyes and beyond.

"Oh, look at all of them, Will," he said and walked up to the nearest cage and was faced with a pudgy yellow cat with wary eyes. "Hello there, who's a cutie? You're a cutie." The cat meowed and licked its paw.

"I think he's finally lost it," Will said to Amatis and leaned against the door, neglecting all the beautiful felines. He wore an unsatisfied look of utter annoyance and sighed as to clarify his feelings.

"Shush Will, you're ruining the atmosphere for the kitties," Magnus said, absentmindedly waving William's words away.

"You could probably benefit from having a cat," Amatis said to William and smiled warmly. "They teach patience and can be great companions, yet they are very independent and resourceful."

"I think if I had a cat I'd lose all self-dignity and have it boss me around. It's their nature to treat humans as servants and I wish to be no one's servant," Will stated, huffing and raising his chin. Magnus spared him a fond look, sometimes he wondered why Will felt the need to stick it to Kitties and…well to anyone who threatened his leadership. And then he didn't even want to be a leader, he just wanted to know that if he wanted to, the option would be available.

"You're a piece of work, Herondale," Magnus muttered and stopped by a cage holding a tiny white ball of fur. "Come here Will, I think I've found the one."

"Well, let's see it then," Will said and slowly strolled next to Magnus, putting his hand on his shoulder. "That's it?"

"Yes. Look at those beautiful eyes and it's so tiny," Magnus squealed inwardly. "This is the one. Look, it's even curious about me," Magnus said, overflowing with happiness as the tiny cat brushed against his fingers, through the cage.

"You know you're gonna have to get it vaccinated, and buy it food and all that crap," Will said, making a small gesture with his hand. He leaned against the cage and eyed the tiny white cat warily. "You're gonna have to be responsible."

"Maybe it's time I'm responsible for something," Magnus said and continued to murmur at the kitten. "Besides it's a Christmas present for myself."

"Oh my Lord," Will sighed and lowered his hands. "I suppose you're getting it then."

"I am," Magnus said, his green eyes gleaming with joy. "I am."

"Perfect," Said Amatis. She'd sneaked up on them. "This one is a rescue from nearby, just a regular old cat, only a few months old. The mother got hit by a car and died; she left behind four little kitties from which this one is certainly the most beautiful. It's the only girl from the lot.

"Can I have it?" Magnus asked, a childlike excitement rushing through him.

Amatis let out a warm laugh, "You can buy it."

"I can buy it," Magnus repeated in awe.

**Alec's point of view**

It was a cold winter morning. The wind had picked up and it whistled through the empty streets. It had snowed too, which made the whole town look like a winter wonderland, only when you stepped out did you realize that it was far from a wonderland. The frozen air was cruel and harsh and did not welcome you outside.

Alec sat next to the window in his comfy armchair and watched the snowflakes hitting his window at rapid speeds. He had been trying to read when Jace had burst into his room, carrying two steaming cups of coffee.

"I've brought you a bribe," he'd said and then ended up sitting next to Alec on the floor, talking about something happening with him and Clary.

Alec sipped on his coffee and ran his fingers on the spine of his book. He'd been really distracted the past few days. He'd talked to Glittery Kitty every day and sort of missed having him to talk to. For some reason he'd disappeared for today and that made Alec inexplicably sad. He also thought about Magnus a lot. He liked the way Magnus said his name…or wrote his name. Maybe he just imagined it. He'd learned that he was 21 years old and worked as a bar tender. He had crazy friends and didn't know the first thing about being in a book club. Everything he said seemed to cheer Alec up. To add on all of this, he didn't even live far away. Just an hour drive south, to the next bigger city.

"Are you listening to me?" Jace asked, wrecking Alec's train of thoughts.

"No, I'm not. I'm sorry, I got distracted," Alec stated, feeling a bit embarrassed. He turned away from the window and looked at Jace, still sitting on the floor with a painful look on his face. "Now I feel horrible, tell me what's wrong."

"Clary and I got into a fight," Jace said. His voice sounded wounded and sore, but his eyes had a look of surprise in them, like he couldn't believe what he was saying.

"Oh no, your first fight," Alec whispered. "What happened?"

"We were talking about having sex," Jace said, blatantly holding Alec's gaze.

"Please don't say the S-word while my mom is home," Alec said, blushing heavily. It was a strange thing to ask, but after everything that had gone down last week, Alec felt it was best to not make Maryse worried about anything.

"She's that uptight?" Jace laughed. "If she thinks she has two teenage kids who don't think and talk about sex, she has another thing coming."

"You said it again," Alec hissed. "I don't want her thinking about…"

"About what?" Jace inquired, raising his brow challengingly.

"About…anything," Alec finished, lamely.

"Well alright, let's call it 'doing the dishes'" Jace said and leaned back against Alec's writing desk.

"Oh dear, Lord," Alec sighed, but decided to go along with it.

"So Clary and I were talking about doing the dishes," Jace began and waited for Alec to acknowledge his words.

"Ok, so you… want to do the dishes?"

"Of course I want to do the dishes," Jace stated, looking at Alec like he was insane.

"So, Clary doesn't want to do the dishes?" Alec asked, feeling a bit guilty for asking. Something about this conversation sounded very private and he couldn't help but wonder if Clary was okay with Jace telling him this.

"Well…I …don't know," Jace said, sounding defeated, letting the air rush out of his lungs. "We talked about it. She said she wasn't ready to do the dishes just yet. Then when I said we could do them later, that there was no rush, she got upset and thought I was insinuating that I, Jace Wayland, did not, in fact, want to do the dishes with her."

"That's silly. Everyone knows you want to do the dishes with her," Alec muttered and tried to think of something comforting to say. Instead he just blurted out a question. "I know you have experience with washing dishes, but does she?"

"I don't think she's ever washed a dish in her life," Jace sighed, slumping down on the floor, neglecting his now cold cup of coffee.

"So do you think a lack of dish washing experience is a bad thing?" Alec asked, a tint of true curiosity slipping into his voice.

Jace lay on his floor, his golden hair framing his soft face like a halo. A thoughtful look crossed his face, until it settled into resolve. "No. It's not a bad thing at all. I don't think it matters if you've washed dishes before or not, because I suppose it's always different with a different person. I mean, I understand that washing dishes for the first time can be frightening, but that's why we should talk about it. She just gets so defensive and upset every time I bring up washing dishes…I don't know what to do anymore."

"Maybe you should just drop the subject for the time being," Alec suggested. He tried to put himself in Clary's place and imagine how she must be feeling. "There's probably a reason for her behavior and I'm sure she'll tell you when she's ready."

"When did you get so smart?" Jace asked, smiling meekly.

"I was always smart, most of the time you just neglect my advice," Alec said, rolling his lake blue eyes.

"Oh yeah, that's what it is," Jace sighed amusedly.

They shared a moment of silence, which was nice. It was nice to be able to be quiet with someone. The sense of serenity was broken by Jace's question. "So have you been talking to that Violin guy?"

"Um…not so much." A wave of guilt crashed on Alec. This was the first time in days he'd even remembered Violin boy. He'd been so focused on Magnus that there had simply been no time or brain capacity to think of him.

"Oh?" Jace asked. "He didn't turn out to be nice?"

"No, he's nice. It's just that I've been chatting with someone else," Alec stated, trying to play his interest down.

"Really? Who?" Jace asked, now sitting up. Alec recognized the curious glint in his eyes, the one that said he was going to meddle with your life. And meddle he did.

"I…well actually it's a friend of Violin boy's. Just some guy, he's really funny and nice to talk to…I guess," Alec said, with a quiet voice.

"You guess?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"What do we know about him?" Jace asked, urging Alec to continue.

"Well…he's 21," Alec said.

"And older man," Jace said, smirking. "Why, Alec. I would have never guessed." Jace brought his hand over his mouth in a mock sigh.

"He's three years older than me," Alec said, feeling a burst of defensiveness rush through him.

"Okay, what else?"

"He's a bartender. He has a really good sense of humor and I've only talked to him for four days so…" Alec's sentence was cut short by the buzz of his phone. Immediately he picked it up and saw a message that made him smile like an idiot.

"What? Was that him?" Jace asked, nearly tackling Alec for his phone.

"He has a cat!" Alec exclaimed, pushing Jace of him

"A cat?"

"Yeah, he just got a cat," Alec stated, as if it was the most normal thing to say, which it probably was. "Do you wanna see a picture?"

"He sent you a picture of his cat?"

"Do you want to see it or not."

Jace smirked and laughed. "Show me the bloody cat."

Alec turned the phone over so Jace could take a look at the white ball of fur with blue twinkling eyes and a mischievous look, sitting on a red leather couch.

"Well that's actually a very pretty cat," Jace said and nodded approvingly.

"It is," Alec agreed and laughed. "He got it as a Christmas present for himself."

"What's the cat called?"

"I don't know, he didn't say," Alec said. "I'll ask."

Jace sat on the arm of the chair next to Alec and leaned in to see what he was typing.

"Your interest in my chat conversations is getting slightly stalkerish," Alec said as he typed away.

"I just want to know what the cat is called," Jace stated, smiling confidently, obviously lying.

Peaches: _Hi. It's nice to hear from you again. Your cat is so cute, makes me want to get one too. My friend would like to know what it's called._

"There, it's sent."

"You didn't have to write a book, you could have just asked what the cat was called," Jace said, smirking insinuatingly.

"I know you're insinuating something, and I think I know what that something is, but you are so wrong, so stop it," Alec said and narrowed his eyes to let Jace know he meant serious business.

"Stop what?" Jace asked innocently.

"Making that face," Alec replied.

"I can't help it if my face looks like this," Jace said, obviously enjoying messing with Alec.

Alec just sighed deeply and opened the message he just received from Magnus.

Glittery Kitty: _Hello Darling! Sorry for neglecting you, but as you see I've had my hands full with this new cutie. You can tell your friend _she_ is called Chairman Meow, but I don't wanna hear any back talk about it. I already have friends of my own to criticize my name giving skills._

Alec smiled and shook his head; with Jace back talk was not optional. "The cat is called Chairman Meow."

Jace made a face and grabbed Alec's phone. "Chairman Meow…let me see that message. You've gotta be screwing with me."

"See?" Alec sighed. "It really is Chairman Meow."

Jace shushed him up by pressing his index finger against Alec's lips. Needless to say, Alec shushed up just because he was so taken aback. He felt a jolt of nervousness go up his spine. He didn't generally like people shoving their fingers at his face.

Alec, feeling utterly confused, blinked a couple of times and hesitantly opened his mouth, "Umm…What are you doing?"

"He called you darling," stated Jace, looking into Alec's baby blue eyes. A mischievous glint slipping into his golden orbs, Jace continued. "I predict that you will be doing many, many dished with this man."

Alec felt his cheeks flush red. "You're insufferable," he spat and leaped on Jace to recover his phone. "You annoying, meddling, golden,…"

"Keep the adjectives coming," Jace laughed as he reached his hand holding Alec's phone as far as he could. Alec tried to grab at it but failed and fell face flat on Jace's chest. He could feel the golden boy laughing under him.

"Look at us, Alec, we're almost washing dishes, how sentimental," said Jace with an overly amused smile on his stupid perfect face.

"Shut up. I hate you," Alec hissed lamely, feeling his cheeks get even redder as he jumped up.

"No you don't," Jace said, handing Alec's phone back, like a good boy.

Alec clenched his teeth together and gave Jace, who was still smirking, a sideways glance. "You're right and that's why I hate you."

"Aww, babe, me too. Me too." Jace joked and earned a dirty look from Alec.

"You're lucky you're pretty," Alec said, "I don't want to mess up a master piece."

Jace's melodic laughter filled the room and made it impossible for Alec to be upset at him. How cruel life was.

**AN: So how did you like it? I thought Chairman needed to be in this story too, so Magnus got a cat. How did you like the interaction between Magnus/Will and Jace/Alec? If you have any feedback for me, please leave a review, because...I was gonna say it'd be as nice as washing dishes with Magnus, but decided that would be a lie.**

**Anyways, wish me luck for exam week because I'm pretty sure I won't be passing German and Swedish.**

**Love Always, Alexandra**


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